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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29069178">Luigi's Mansion: Darkness Arises</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soldjermon/pseuds/Soldjermon'>Soldjermon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BattleBlock Theater, Luigi's Mansion (Video Games), Super Mario &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Gore, Consensual Possession, Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Demonic Possession, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Vore, split personality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:15:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>161,062</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29069178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soldjermon/pseuds/Soldjermon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The S.S. Friendship travels the seas for several years as they come across a dense fog and travels into it. But what the crew don't realize, there's ghostly danger lurking within and catches them off-guard...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Boocille/Luigi, King Boo/Lord Maya, Mario/Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Princess Daisy/Luigi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Attack on the S.S. Friendship</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This RolePlay story is collaborated together with SinfulCoon and I; hence the two different writing styles in almost every other paragraph... Which I'm not as good as my close friend is in writing this story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a dark night, as the S.S. Friendship has traveled so much in the past several years and has gotten the reputation of being the best ship to sail the seas. Most of the time, they were able to get free from any danger they come across and enjoy all walks of life on the planet, though this time, might not be as <em> lucky </em> as they would expect...</p><p> </p><p>Surely, Hatty and Reginald can always get out of a pickle no matter where they are, though while they traveled with mostly the same crew mates that practically <em> lived </em> on the ship for years, it was smooth sailing with clear skies and smooth waters. "It's been some time, but we haven't come across anything <em> exciting </em> lately." Reginald speaks to Hatty - the captain in a sad tone. "Don't you worry, brother! We'll find something." Hatty tells his older brother, as he walks to the storage of rolled up maps, grabs one out and places it on the large table while unrolling it. "Maybe this can help find some <em> new </em> uncharted territory that we've never visited before."</p><p> </p><p>As they sailed the slowly bubbling seas that began to churn and engulf the underside of the ship, some of their computers began to spring to life with a sound. The radars began to indicate they were incoming some sort of disturbance up ahead, whirring and sputtering of machines and systems as all struggled to process what this was. "Oh, I think we've found something!"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmmm...." Reginald ponders, as he looks over the systems while looking outside, "If we did find something, we don't know what it is." He points out, noticing the thick fog rolling in. "Can we sail around it if we can?" Looking back at Hatty while he turned around and helped him to find someplace <em> new </em> to venture out. </p><p>"This is perfect!" The captain muttered out loud with a smile. "This is the kind of place I've been waiting for to have some time!" It's like Hatty <em> wanted </em> to go to this dense fog, but Reginald knows it's too dangerous to even set sail within.</p><p> </p><p>Being sure to turn on the brightest lights on the front of the ship that he could, Hatty braved the knotting seas and drove the mighty vessel forward into the uncertainty. Splashing forward through the choppy seas, the ship was an unyielding force that pushed through the waves... the fog never broke, and worse yet, the skies were beginning to darken and crackle with stormy lights.</p><p> </p><p>With the skies getting darker, the systems helped keep the ship stable for now... Until they weren't - they all hear crackles around the ship, then a lightning strike happens on the ship; shorting out pretty much the equipment as the ship slows down to a halt and lights go out. "<em>Ohno...</em>" Reginald muttered, since he <em> hates </em> the darkness.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ack, no! </em> Ugh, we might've just got struck!" Reaching down, Hatty tried to utilize the radio, but saw that it- too- was dead. "Reginald, prepare the oil lantern and man the wheel. I have to go down and start the emergency generator. I won't be gone long."</p><p> </p><p>Reginald didn't hesitate to try to find any kind of light - which gladly there was a flashlight nearby and turned it on. "Make it quick, since I can already tell that the crew are already freaking out from the outage." He tells Hatty, though he throws the flashlight to him before looking for the oil lantern that's on the other side of the bridge. Lighting up the oil lantern, he sees Hatty leaving to get to the generator. "<em>Something isn't right...</em>" He quietly talks to himself, as he shivers a bit when an unnatural cold sets in.</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you." Hurrying down to the lower levels and leaving Reginald in the bridge in case he needed to jump the systems, hurrying to check the engine room. Rushing down into the engine room, everything was silent and still. Looking about for the switches, Hatty <em> did </em> manage to find them... but paused. He saw several small orbs that floated and giggled manically about the switches and buttons, happy to be wrecking the systems. "... what the--"</p><p> </p><p>Surely, something is afoot when the orbs go into the systems and most of the engine- which makes them go <em> invisible </em>... As if the engine wasn't even there in the first place. Panicking, a few of the crew mates rush into the engine room to see the exact same scenario. "Oh god, where's the engine?! What happened to it?!" Rigel blurted out as he stood next to where the engine would be.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty gasped, clutching the flashlight tightly in his grasp before groping about the now empty cavity where the engine one was bolted securely down. "<em>T-this... this is... this is impossible!!</em>" He cried out, looking about as though he'd just lost his gourd. Then, more of these tongue-lulled creatures flew from the walls with deranged cackles and toothy giggling. This was <em> not </em> good!</p><p> </p><p>Without the engine, the ship can't move! Rigel looks at Hatty, "Captain, what are we going to do?!" He says, while seeing the <em> ghosts </em> flying around the engine room. "W-we need to get out of here!!" Rigel doesn't hesitate to grab Hatty and run out to get back to the bridge.</p><p> </p><p>Being pulled along, he was urged along by Rigel's brute strength. "<em>Rigel, to the bridge! We have to get my brother and we have to get the lifeboats ready to depl--</em>" Before they could make it very far, ghosts began to spring from the walls, darting around chaotically and flew about wildly.</p><p> </p><p>Most of the doors leading inside the cabins go invisible while the ghosts travel through the walls, as if they don't want the captain to hide somewhere... Though the crew mates are inside the cabins! Oh no... "That's where I'm heading!" Rigel snaps, quickly heading up the stairs to get to the bridge. Once the two gets there, Reginald was nowhere in sight.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>REGINALD?!</em>" Hatty frantically cried out, looking about for his brother, only to hear muffled struggling. "Oh God in Heaven, that's him!!" Trying to look for his brother out of Rigel's grasp, the specters <em> grappled </em> the captain and hoisted him up, spiriting him away, as well as the cyclops.</p><p> </p><p>Rigel tries to scramble out of the ghosts' grasp, but isn't able to get free. "<em>LET ME GO!!</em>" He growls, though he can't help but keep struggling.</p><p>"<em>Well well well... It's been a long time...</em>" The dark and demonic voice comes around, as a demonic spirit shows its face in front of Rigel and Hatty. "<em>It looks like we have a few more to </em> <b> <em>capture</em> </b> <em> for our plan..~</em>" The demonic spirit snickers while seeing the ghosts holding onto the two.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Wh-who are you?! L-let us go!! And what have you done to my brother!!</em>" Hatty demanded, squirming more in the specters' grasp.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>HAHAHAHA!! No chance of letting you go...</em>" The demonic spirit laughs for a brief moment before staring his blood red eyes to the two. "<em>I'm the one, you call, Maya... Lord of illusions!!</em>" as he snaps his finger, having one of the well-rounded ghosts come up from hiding as well as bringing up a ghostly figure of Reginald. To whom, wakes up and looks around and flies off of the spirits hand.</p><p>Rigel gasps, seeing Reginald as a spirit himself. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO REGINALD?!" He screams out, thrashing about and desperately trying to get free. "<em>Oh, I've made him just like us, and he'll be helping us with our plans... As well as YOU!! HAHAHAHAHA!!</em>" The spirit commands the ghosts to transfer Hatty and Rigel to a special device planted on the floor as it activates.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing this demonic machine spur to life and seem ready to rip their souls from their bodies, Hatty struggled with his teeth bared and eyes frantic, looking for a means to escape. When he knew that it was futile, seeing how even his mighty elder brother couldn't flee in time, he let out a fearful cry..."<em>You won't get away with this!!</em>" Were his last words before he was thrown into the midst of this terrible device...</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>Much time has past- years in fact, as the S.S. Friendship has drifted out of the dense fog; showing the ship has been run down since no one has been able to maintain it while the ghosts have been flying in and around the ship. Though, once all of the crew mates have been captured and turned into ghosts themselves, Maya has full control over them, commands them to hide within the ship while a much smaller boat comes on by. The boat looks high-tech with some radar equipment attached to it, as if it can sniff out paranormal activity. The seas were rough, but the boat was able to handle the waves quite nicely as a Professor came out from the hull to inspect the large ship. A small old guy with big glasses and a little bit of hair on his head that looked like a paint brush. With his gear in tow, he gets the boat to park next to the ship and heads inside to see what is there.</p><p> </p><p>The ship, for many ages, had since fallen into a state of neglect. Once a gloriously penny-like ship was now oxidized and greened, heavy sea moss and barnacles in dense families blemished the belly of the beast. What was once the virginal pride of the Hattington family was now a beacon of emptiness, a corpse at sea. A dead vessel without any life, only with its puppets that drift listlessly within the formerly polished and gorgeous walls, now having fallen into decay and fading with splinters and beetles that devoured the rotting wood.</p><p> </p><p>With the ship in such a rough shape, the professor climbs up with a special vacuum as his defense and looks around while being cautious. While the professor looks around, the ghosts quietly sneak to the boat as per ordered from Maya and go inside through the walls to find something in particular... The vault! Though one of the ghosts spots who the professor is on a plague on the wall- Professor Elvin Gadd. <em> Perfect </em>... The ghosts proceed into breaking in the ghost vault to get one particular ghost with a special crown on its head out and releases it from its entrapment - but also releasing the other bad ghosts from it as well.</p><p>"<em>Finally, I am free once again!!</em>" The enraged ghost comes out of the vault and flies out, hunting down the professor that had invented all the gadgets that kept him and his fellow ghosts captured and entrapped in the vault. "<em>What is this..?</em>" The ghost was puzzled, seeing the large ship in front of him, but quickly gets a massive grin and floats quickly to it to find Gadd on the front deck of the ship and goes to him. "<em>Guess who?!</em>" The ghost laughs maniacally at Gadd.</p><p> </p><p>Oh no... seems like E. Gadd's knee deep in hot water now!! The dead and wicked are unrested and are bitter about their predicament, many of whom being forcefully torn from their skins and made into the twisted marionettes of the demon king's will... a creature who stood in the way of <em> balance </em> between life and death. This sudden <em> rush </em> of dead energy never went unnoticed, however a body without a form couldn't trifle herself with the pain and withering effects of being in a world that could not contain her. She knew... she <em> always </em> knew, but needed a champion to <em> forward </em> this bidding. This massive blemish between the veil of life and death was preventing new life, it was impacting the living, and stifling the dead from their rest. And the lack of balance and tranquility was... <em> enraging </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Even with the spiritual unrest on the S.S. Friendship, none of the ghosts on the ship knows about a creature looming upon them.</p><p> </p><p>The startled Gadd jumps and backs away, "<em>K-King Boo?!</em>" Before the professor was able to react and get away, King Boo generates a special portrait frame and quickly slams down on him-knowing full well that if he hesitated, Gadd would have been either running away or try to fight him. "<em>Good... Now this pest is out of the way...</em>" After lifting up the portrait with Gadd inside, the demonic spirit comes around to show himself. " <em> Welcome~ Glad you can join the </em> <b> <em>party</em> </b> <em> ..~ </em>" Maya sneers, as the spirits come around King Boo and Maya.</p><p>"<em>Ha ha ha~ Who are you to whom I speak of?</em>" King Boo asks the demonic spirit in front of him while noticing some of his brethren Boos alongside the demonic ghost, which quickly realizes that Maya is on his side without speaking a word. "<em>So you're the one who helped release me from my prison...</em>" While King Boo was speaking, Maya used his abilities to generate a new gem for King Boo's crown and handed it over to him. "<em>Of Course, my name is Maya... I'm the one who helped you escape from the rached Professor's prison.</em>" He says, as the King scoops up the jewel and places it on his crown. "<em>Excellent... Now, I have </em> <b> <em>vengeance</em> </b> <em> to deal with...</em>"</p><p>"<em>To whom, you might ask?</em>" Maya asks King Boo, to which he replies, "<em>The </em> <b> <em>Mario Brothers</em> </b> <em> ... Especially Luigi!</em>" All the Boos and spirits laugh at the idea, as they set up the plan from within the ship and spring the plan into motion.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over these two creatures from a palace that doesn't exist within the most dead pit of the universe, living within the corpse of a dead star, she huffed when she saw that the dead were imprisoning the living and forcing them into this large pocket of spectral energy that was creating such incredible unbalance. These fiends were causing a <em> cataclysmic </em> kilter effect that was rippling across space and time. She never understood the vengeful dead... you are <em> dead </em>, you have nothing to prove. Either paradise or damnation waits. Justice is for the living to find closure, your own death is simply a consequence of a crime. All knew that, but would rather cart the corpse about like a badge of pain.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Insufferable little pigs.</em>" The shadowy form hissed behind a cold, metal mask, forcing the wispy sight of the plane of matter away. "<em>Such chains they link themselves... a demon created by the unwise's obsession with money, power and the need for more. That essence, now poisons </em> <b> <em>my</em> </b> <em> diction. These greedy little bastards clearly care not for the damage they've done. Children in the womb shall not be born, the dead cannot pass on swiftly... all because they are stunting the flow of life and death, all for the sake of something as fleeting as power. A cynical bastard goat man with a need for sex... like a dog that needs its balls crushed away with some bloated spirit that drifted from the Orient. ... it appears that I must pull the strings and enlist the help of a creature of matter.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>It took another several weeks, as the ship has been 'retrofitted' to make the ship look as good as new once again and had set sail to a particular Kingdom, in which their plans are coming to fruition.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. New friend, or foe?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a hot summer day, the Mushroom Kingdom was lively and happy while lots of Toads as well as the Mario brothers enjoyed their time in Toad town. Peach and Daisy had caught up to Mario and Luigi along with a few loyal toads as they happily explored the town. "Boy, its-a nice day, Bro~" Luigi happily with Daisy next to him while one of the toads on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"A-yes, it is! A wonderful day indeed, and even nicer for a day out to enjoy ourselves." The brothers <em>barely </em> got a day like this to just relax. Either the kingdom was in peril, someone was in trouble, or <em> something </em> or <em> someone </em> needed their help. But now that things were quiet for the time being, it was better to stroll about Toad Town, breathing in the aroma of the delicate flowers that were in full blossom. The toads walking about were as plucky and cute as ever, and things seemed to be looking up.</p><p> </p><p>However, one particular sentry of Toadkind suddenly came rushing forward from the sandy shoreline, seemingly excited. "Mr. Mario! Mr. Luigi! Your highnesses! I saw something, out in the water! You're never going to believe it!"</p><p> </p><p>Just as Luigi and Peach were about to question the Toad; a loud, deep horn blows out from the sea-making them turn their heads to the docks where they see a large ship coming towards the kingdom. "Hey look! A new ship coming to shore!" Peach announces, as she points out to the ship. Though, Luigi feels a little timid about seeing the ship come dock near the kingdom unannounced, but tried to hide it for now. "Sounds like fun!" He mutters out his breath.</p><p> </p><p>"Let's'a go check it out, bro!" Mario lightly elbowed his brother as Daisy hooked her arm about Luigi's. "Come on, there's probably a really nice casino aboard!" But this was merely the wool of the sheep. The beguiling shape and vibrant colors were part of the Master of Illusion's ploy to get unsuspecting people aboard the ship... especially one such power he had an alliance with. Why? Well, why not have an army of ghosts? An army that cannot be battled by any weapon devices by man or beast... but perhaps, there was something <em> beyond </em> man or beast that could help remedy this?</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi sensing something awful; he couldn't help being a little gun shy, but gets tugged along with Daisy while a few toads come along. "W-well, I hope it'll be a nice voyage." He mutters, as he and the three get to the docks. But, once they all reach the docks, the ramp lowers slowly to the docking bay to let the people from the ship come off the ship when needed, though only the captain and the second in command come down the ramp in their corporeal forms to hide themselves properly for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>"Feels nice to get back on shore, since it's been a long while." Reginald mutters to Hatty as he corrects his monocle and his top hat a bit while going down the ramp with his younger brother.</p><p> </p><p>"It's been much too long, brother! Oh, hello! You must be the locals. Apologies for our intrusion. We began to run lower on fuel and provisions than we imagined. Is it alright if we docked our ship here while we restock?" "Uh. Who are you?" Daisy flatly asked. "<em>Ack!</em>" Slapping himself on the head, Hatty chuckled. "Where are my manners? I apologize. I am Hatty Hattington, the captain of the S.S. Friendship! Isn't she a beaut? She's the pride of the French coast!"</p><p> </p><p>"What's a ship'a gotta do with french toast?" Ahh, Mario, you adorable goober. "Aha~, no, friend. Coast! This vessel had her maiden voyage from the docks of Sainte-Adresse, a commune in France. Why explain when I can give you the full tour? The ship has such a fruitful and beautiful history, it's practically a museum!"</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, I'm Reginald Hattington, and we don't mind letting you all explore this fine vessel~" Reginald takes off his top hat and bows for a few seconds before standing upright again.</p><p>Luigi tries to recall the word 'France'... Hmm... Must be from a different world no less, from the world he remembers when he was in with his older twin brother long ago. "Ahh yes, I remember France! I've studied that while I was in school." The green stache points out as it helps him relax a little better. But, he doesn't shake the feeling of <em> how </em> this whole ship actually gotten from the real world into this one just something doesn't add up. "Sounds like fun!" Peach replied, which derailed Luigi's train of thought for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>"All are welcome aboard the S.S. Friendship!" "The S.S. Friendship? Well, with a name like that, how could'a it be bad!" Mario chimed blissfully as he and Peach climbed up the bridge to the back of the ship with utter joy. Something about this just felt <em> off </em>... but, the consequence of the four boarding and the following catastrophe was a means of putting everything in place, as overseen by the very eyes of Death.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Mario and Peach go into the ship, he speaks up in hopes of stopping his brother and the princess from going any further. "H-hey bro! If we're going onto the ship, we probably would need to get back home and pack up first?" Luigi yells out to him, hoping that Mario would hear him.</p><p>"There's no rush to get in just yet though, we do need to stock up- which can take at most a day or two. We can explore this place while doing so." Reginald says, as one of the crew mates block Mario and Peach from going any farther in for now. "Might as well listen to Luigi, Mario and Peach." Rigel snorts while having his arms crossed- such an aggressive personality he has.</p><p> </p><p>"Now now, Rigel. There's no need to be so cynical. You'll have to excuse our best mate Rigel here. He's very experienced, but he's just a bit sour with age." "Age? He doesn't seem that old." Daisy spoke softly. "Come'a now. Not every man looks'a his age."</p><p> </p><p>Rigel snorts again after hearing Hatty from below. "If you insist on looking around, don't go to any places inside that's off limits." The grumpy one snarls as he moves aside for Mario and Peach to look around the ship. Luigi usually doesn't like to be around aggressive people while holding his forehead and shaking his head. "<em>Mama mia...</em>" He mutters, though hoping that Mario could come back before exploring the ship. "Daisy, dearest, do you think it's-a wise to wait until we get packed, in case they let us stay and sail off with them?" The green stache asks Daisy with a smirk.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, why don't we explore a bit? See if we <em> will </em> stay here a bit? What's the harm in taking a peek for a while?" "You're free to do as you please, just be sure not to go into the engine room or boiler. Those rooms are dangerous!" Sadly, no one was aware that the crew aboard the ship was <em> fully </em> controlled by the sinister puppet master... however, not even the lord of illusion was aware of the being that lurked within the dead womb of the festering darkness which was ready to reach out and end this terror.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... soon, all shall be able to complete their destinies.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With a loud sigh, Luigi follows up the ramp while the few toads come along and are happy to come aboard the S.S. Friendship. Though Luigi couldn't shake this feeling, since he remembers something like this happening before, but instead in The Last Resort hotel in the middle of nowhere.</p><p>Just as when Daisy and Luigi get to the top, Polterpup decides to abruptly show up in front of the green stache from under the floor and barks, jumping and scaring poor Luigi and falling flat on his butt... Though the ramp was a little steep, which the jump scare made him roll back all the way to the bottom and seeing stars. "<em>Polterpup...</em>"</p><p>"Are you okay?" Reginald quickly goes over to Luigi, seeing him back all the way down to the docks and goes to help him up.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty saw the man fall backwards and equally rushed to his aid. "Goodness, you aren't hurt, are you?" As the two aided Luigi back to his feet, Pulterpup sniffed at the two before growling softly. He <em> knew </em> something was off about these two, something wasn't quite right with this ship.</p><p> </p><p>With Reginald and Hatty helping Luigi up, at least the green stache was up on his feet and shakes his head to get the dizzy spell out of his head. "I-I'm okay..." He says while dusting himself off and hearing his ghost dog growling at them. "I guess that my Polterpup doesn't like strangers, but he'll get used-to you after a while." Luigi chuckles as he reaches to Polterpup and pets the dog happily. "Now now, let's be friends!" He says as he turns around and walks back up the ramp with the dog in tow.</p><p>Once Luigi had climbed up to catch up with Daisy, both Hatty and Reginald looked at each other with evil grins for a moment before looking back to the ship. "I'll be back, I do need to help the other crew mates to help stock up, brother." Reginald pats Hatty's shoulder as he walks to the back of the ship to get the loading bay opened up to load up the supplies.</p><p> </p><p>"That would be best, brother. In the meantime, who would like a tour of our glorious ship? I'm sure you must all be curious!" Hatty smiled brightly to the group before glancing back to Reginald with that <em> sinister </em> glint. "We have a small space within the ship that explains our proud history, if you'd be interested!" "Yeah! Let's go see!" Daisy was excited, though paused. "Is there a casino aboard?" "There's no casino, but there <em> is </em> a rec hall on board if you'd be interested." <em> That </em> got her interested easily!</p><p> </p><p>"That would be great!" Peach smiles in delight, since she seems interested in learning about the history of the ship. Luigi- on the other hand, gets a little anxious and worried while standing beside Mario a little bit behind the princesses. "<em>I-I don't know, bro... Something feels off...</em>" He mutters to his older brother. " <em> Polterpup never acts aggressively towards anyone. </em>"</p><p> </p><p>The pup was still growling, hackles raised and eyes wild each time a crew mate would walk by. He <em> sensed </em> something the others didn't, and he had to protect Luigi. Staying nearly glued to his side, he walked along the green-laden plumber as they moved across the main deck to the awaiting lower levels. "... surely, he's'a probably just nervous. It's'a ship, I don't think'a he's been on one before! Maybe once he gets his sea legs, he'll calm down."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I surely hope you're right.</em>" The younger twin can tell that his beloved Polterpup is trying to guard him from attackers, though a small pet on the ghost dog's head helps calm him down a little bit while following his older twin brother.</p><p> </p><p>While inside the ship, the crew mates enjoy their time chit chatting with each other and minding their own businesses as they're in their corporeal forms to hide their facade while a couple boos chat with the crew as well while one crew mate looks around to see if anyone from the Mushroom Kingdom comes around. Once the crew mate notices the toads and inform the other crew mates, they quickly get into high gear as well as the boos disappearing from view- waiting to ambush the toads and capture them.</p><p> </p><p>Sniffing the air, Polterpup suddenly began to yank at Luigi's pant leg, trying to diverge him from the beaten path. "Oh, such an adorable little pup you have there, Mr. Luigi. I have to say, he's so precious..~" Hatty smiled and tried to pet the pup, only to have it snap at him with a snarl. "Goodness!" Wow, he's <em> never </em> tried biting anyone before!! Daisy gasped, astounded that he would attack. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Hatty! Bad Polterpup! We don't snap at new friends!"</p><p> </p><p>It didn't take long to keep Pulterpup in his place, "Polterpup! No!" Luigi makes him sit, but he felt the ghost dog tug <em> hard </em> , which made him face plant onto the floor and lets go of the leash. "<em>Ow...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Ah, Polter, it's'a alright!" Mario tried to grip the leash and get the pup to calm down, but the dog was swift to hop through the walls. Drat! "He'll'a come back around... Luigi, are you'a okay? You hit the ground pretty hard..." Easing his bro up, he felt so bad that his twin was always getting the shorter end of the stick.</p><p> </p><p>With the help of his brother, he gets up from the floor and readjusts his hat to fit snugly on his head. "I-I don't know what's-a going on with Polterpup... This is unusual, but I'll be okay, bro~" He thumbs up Mario before the group heads inside the ship to explore around.</p><p> </p><p>As they explored, Luigi could hear Polter's yapping through the ship with some small wisps. "Mama Mia, I've never seen him that worked up before!" "He's likely just overwhelmed by the new smells. Our ship has seen <em> many </em> people pass through it, so it's likely quite a bit for such a sweet little... erm... ghost dog." Hatty pondered the correct term for the little beastie. "Should I'a try to go and get him? I don't want him to cause any trouble." "I'm sure he'll be fine, so long as he stays clear of the kitchen."</p><p> </p><p>"Doggy! Come back!" Luigi doesn't hesitate to try to nab Polterpup as he runs off to go get him before he typically tries to hide somewhere and jump scare him like he usually does, leaving everyone else behind- Including Mario and the princesses. "Luigi! Don't leave us behind!" Peach yells at him, seeing that he'd ran off quickly for him to not hear her.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>During this time, deep inside the ship, King Boo has been arguing with a cute little boo with a couple yellow flowers on the sides of its head. "<em>No! I don't want to harm them! It's cruel!</em>" She argues at King Boo while trying to cross her arms. "<em>You WILL!! I will NOT have any kind of rebellion in my clan!</em>" King Boo enrages, as he charges up an attack to the little boo.</p><p>Once the little boo realizes that King Boo was going to attack, she quickly flies through the walls to get away, making the king stop his attack. "<em>You will be punished, once I find you again...</em>"</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>While Luigi tries to find Polterpup, he couldn't help but look around cautiously, making sure that there aren't any <em> traps </em> lying around; since he remembers the hotel he was at last, had a lot of traps. But, it didn't take long to find Polterpup as he ran across a hallway. "Polterpup! Wait!"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Arf! Arf, arf!</em>" Yelping out anxiously, the pup was darting through walls and bowing through rooms, leaving Luigi to scramble after him. This continued on down the winding hallways before the pup finally ran through one door... a door with a red strip of tape across it with a large black and white sign that read- in all capital letters- <b> <em>DO NOT ENTER</em></b>. This must've been one of those off-limit rooms..! But Polterpup wasn't coming out of there! He had to get him before he either got hurt, or broke something!</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was bringing the group along for the tour. "I'm sure he'll catch up eventually... for now, I want to show you all a bit of the ship's history!" Walking through a flashy set of double doors, they walked through a room that was prettily lit by the sun coming in through the porthole windows, gazing as the ship lazily bobbed against the gently crashing waves. "Our story all began with Maximilien Hattington the First. The forefather of the Hattington family, born from poverty. He worked his way up as a lowly bellhop up through the ranks! He gained money, power and respect before he started to buy businesses and continued to inflate his empire! Then came his twin children, Parker and Poppy Hattington. Poppy was a blind artist who decked Parker's inherited businesses and made a staple within all of Paris! The lineage continues, strong and true..." "Wow, what a beautiful story, Mr. Hattington!" Daisy spoke, looking up at the paintings that were painted with <em> incredible </em> detail. "... the eyes are so <em> real</em>, it almost looks like they're following me!"</p><p> </p><p>Peach was mesmerized from the paintings. "My goodness, they're so gorgeous!" Seeing the paintings, Daisy's words sound true in her eyes- as if the paintings are staring at them. "... A little creepy, but it's nothing to worry about. They're just paintings~" She looks down to Mario, pinching his cheek lightly. "Having fun, dearest Mario?" She smiles with a giggle.</p><p> </p><p>"Hehe, a'yes~! The paintings are so life-like, it's like they could reach out and shake your hand!" "Ah, they would have all loved to meet such lovely people." Further down this great hall... queer. There were empty canvases with frames decked and ready. "... say, why are these empty?" "Oh, those are just waiting for new faces. They're placeholders for the next paintings. They'll be finished very soon." He rested, the group assured. "It's odd, yes, but when the moment comes? The paintings will be up on the wall in all of their magnificent glory!"</p><p> </p><p>"That'll be great! Though I wonder who would be in the empty portraits..." Peach quietly asks and wonders why the empty portraits are here in the first place, since most museums never had any empty portraits just hanging in full view along with the finished portraits.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty turned to the portraits with a smile, seeming prideful. "Only the <em> finest </em> aboard this ship may possibly have their bust put in undying eternity upon these gopherwood walls. The bravest, the finest, the most daring and adventurous..." Speaking from the bottom of his chest, it seemed like a very heartfelt speech... that was <em> until </em> his smile turned into a sinister grin with much more hollow eyes. "<em>... or the foolish. </em> <b> <em>NOW!!</em></b>" His voice turned from soft to booming, broke the silence; and from which the spirits emerged from the walls with clear intent: ensnare and imprison. The lights about them sputtered before breaking, bathing them in darkness.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You insolent fools! Had I'd known this would have been so easy, I could have put a stick beneath a box and tied it to a turkey drumstick. Ooh, you pitiably moronic peons have wandered straight into the bear's den with torches and drums filled with rocks!!</em>" Just like that, the cheery and happy façade of the ship melted away to reveal the floating skeleton that it was. Splintered, dull walls with loud creaking of rusted ship parts and water-logged wood was the ambience to this rotted tomb on water.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>Meanwhile, Luigi stood in front of the rooms that are off-limits... But he needed to get his pooch out of the room he's in! Cautiously grabbing the door knob and opens the door a little bit to peak inside. "<em> P-polterpuppy... Come out, buddy... </em> " It finally <em> clicked </em> , he remembers that Polterpooch is attracted to golden bones when hungry, and luckily he had one in his pocket. Digging it out, he opens the door a little more and ducks under the <b> <em>DO NOT ENTER</em> </b> tape to get inside. "Polterpuppy! Me-a got a treat for you~" He announces, waving the golden bone out for the ghost dog to come to him.</p><p> </p><p>What Luigi didn't realize, the room was pretty much <em> bareen </em> , and there was nothing inside the room... But Polterpup was nowhere to be seen. "<em>Polterpuppy..?</em>" Now something wasn't right, since the couple mirrors inside are showing that there's furniture where they should be, but he can't see it himself. "<em>Wh-what's going on..?</em>" Luigi muttered to himself, just as a cold wind had come from behind him and the door shut right behind him, making him jump quickly with a loud yelp sound and fall onto his butt- in which locked Luigi inside. Shaken, he gets up from off the floor and gets to the door to try to open it, to no avail. The door locked itself!</p><p>Trying to bash the door open, a spectral gate comes down and shoves the green stache away from the door as the room goes <em> dark </em> ... "<em>Oh-oh no... Not again...</em>" Scared, he gets his trusty flashlight out and turns it on to see that the once nice room has become a neglected, worn down room. He felt a gust of cold once more though, shivering at the spot in which the cute little boo flies quickly inside to try to hide from the other boos and ghosts- unknowingly running into Luigi from behind and vanished within him. This makes him jump as if he had gotten spooked from something, but as he turns around, no one was behind him... "<em>P-Polterpuppy..? Th-this isn't funny...</em>" He muttered with a shaken breath while looking around.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, this was no practical joke of the spectral pooch. This ship was a wolf in sheep's clothing... The lavish polish and vibrant colors were simply layers of caked on foundation that ran away like a made-up woman in the rain. The rotted interior rocked and shivered spirits flew from the pores of the wood, spiraling about the shaken green plumber. They were rushing through the locked door, unabated and with clear purpose... to <em> destroy </em> the brothers. But in their haste to collect the others, they'd neglected to capture the green one in hiding. Through the haunted halls, he could hear his friends <em> screaming</em>...</p><p> </p><p>Upon Luigi hearing the screams of his love, his brother and Peach; he panics- hoping to get out as soon as he can. "<em>N-no... Please... D-don't hurt my family!!</em>" He charges to try to break free from the room he's trapped in, but the walls were too strong, even with as much force he could muster. "<b>LET ME OU--</b>" Just as when he tries one more time at the wall, a large boo comes inside through the walls in front of Luigi, scaring him and jumping back, screaming and falling on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>As the large boo loomed over Luigi, looking ready to claim its prize, along came Polterpup! Snapping and growling, it gripped at the Boo's tail and yanked it back, shaking and snarling. Nothing was going to hurt Luigi if he could help it!!</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi quickly backing away, he hears a faint voice in his head, .oO( <em> Run... </em> ) He doesn't hesitate, quickly gets up and runs away from the boo. Without realizing, he fazed through the wall while the boo was distracted- having his mindset to run away as far as he could without a second thought.</p><p>Once getting far enough away, he stops and looks back, thankfully that nothing followed him, but is sad that he had-to abandon his ghost pooch. Panting, the green-clad plumber leans against the wall while clutching his chest with his heart beating rapidly, thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his body. "<em>T-that was too close...</em>" </p><p> </p><p>Within Luigi's body, the cute little boo was mesmerized by how she was able to hide within, and was thankful that he was able to run away from that sinister boo. .oO( <em> That was too close... Glad that actually worked! </em> ) She talks to herself, not realizing that Luigi heard her. "Y-yeah, you can say that again..." Luigi sighs, trying to take a deep breath to calm down... But then he realized, who was talking to him. "W-wait, who said that?" He says while looking around in a puzzled look on his face. The little boo squeaks quietly, hoping to stay silent while inside.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily for Luigi, he heard a familiar barking as Polterpup hopped through the walls with a happy yipping. Panting and nudging against Luigi's leg, his tail was wagging and he looked as happy as could be! He knew he did good, protecting his owner like a <em> good boy </em> ! Though, he paused and sniffed at the green-laden plumber's chest before yapping loudly. He ran in a circle before sitting... there was something <em> in </em> the man!</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi sees Polterpup jump out from the walls and barks out to him, another rush of adrenaline makes him jump a bit, but quickly calms down after the pooch after sliding down against the wall and sits against it. "Polterpuppy, please don't scare me..." He smiles as he pets the pooch, not noticing that he was sniffing at his chest.</p><p> </p><p>With a small giggle, a little boo with a glowing pink halo about her fluttered out from the younger twin plumber's body. Her stubby little arms were held out, gently petting the Polterpup. .oO( <em> Who's a good Polterpup? Aww, it's you! Yes, it is! </em> ) Looking back to the horrified dinorider, she stammered, realizing she just gave herself away. .oO( <em> ... p-please don't be afraid! I promise, I'm not a bad Boo! I... my name is Boocille. I'm the princess of the Boos... unfortunately. But, I don't want to do what they do! Scaring people, trapping them and making them ghost slaves... it isn't nice and isn't fair, but he never listens to me. He just gets mad that I don't agree with him... especially with his new stinky friend who's just as mean! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Though, upon hearing the voice once more and looks down to see ghostly nubs jutting out of his chest- in which he initially freaks out, but calms down again he hears more of what the boo is saying to him. "<em>Y-you're f-friendly..?</em>" He quietly musters, as he reaches to his chest in hopes for her to touch his hand. Questions rush through his mind after hearing the entire thing. Who was the king? Who is the new friend the king knows? <em> What's even happening..?</em>" <em> Y-you're the one who helped me escape from that room...</em>" He muttered, while petting his pooch on the other hand. "<em>D-do you know what's going on?</em>" He says to Boocille, as he slowly stands up from the adrenaline wearing off and takes a deep breath.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille's ghostly nubs for hands gently pet the ghostly pooch, scratching his head to calm him down a touch so his barking wouldn't alert the less than friendly boos. With a forlorn sigh, the delicate specter began to explain what she knew. Though, with the plumber reaching down to try to hold those stumps, it helped her feel a bit closer and calmer with regaling her harrowing tale.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... my father, King Boo, wants to turn all of the world into ghosts to be part of his ever-growing army. He's so greedy, he'll even graverob to make more ghosts his servants and eventually his knights. It's awful. What's worse, is that he took over this ship, ages ago... it used to be the S.S. Friendship. But he stole the original captain and crew's souls and are using them as puppets! Not only that, but he has a demon in his ranks now as his heir. Promising this beast equal rights to the power over the dead, they seek to turn this ghost ship into a dreadnought. I didn't want to be like that... so he tried to attack me. He's always hated me because I just want to be nice to people. I don't want them to be forced to do what they don't want to! But he'd never listen... he's just a meanie and a bully. </em>)</p><p> </p><p>While hearing the story and feeling her nubs of the little boo's hands, he heard the name, "<em>King Boo?! Oh no...</em>" The horrible memories of fighting that menace of a Boo a few times before makes him quiver in fear, covering his eyes with his hat. "<em>H-he escaped again... H-he's out to get me and my brother!!</em>" He yells out while his voice cracks, not realizing that that noise had alerted his location... Oops.</p><p>The boos and the ghosts of the former crew mates hear the green-clad plumber from afar, and doesn't hesitate to hunt him down. Eventually a few of them find Luigi in one of the hallways with his ghost dog next to him. "<em>Get 'em!!</em>" Once the ghosts spewed out, which in turn warned Luigi that the ghosts and boos had found him with a loud scream. Luigi didn't hesitate to turn around and run away as fast as he could, since the fight or flight had cranked to the max, and fighting wasn't an option - he didn't have the poltergust vacuum he once had before and only had his flashlight... Wait, he lost his flashlight! Now running in the dark, he hopes to find a means to escape again.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Hold on! I know a way to get us out of this mess! Let me up into your head, trust me! </em>) Boocille beckoned to the man to urge him to allow her control... for just the bit! Polterpup barked and snapped, trying to keep the other spirits away from his precious owner. There was only so much the pup could do besides the Boos that flew right past him.</p><p> </p><p>At being allowed to slip into the man's mind, she took control before rushing with astounding speed, enabling his body to <em> jump </em> through solid obstacles, fly through the floors and eventually gain enough distance to where he was able to slip into a small space. Using the solid body to its advantage, Boocille kept the breathing steady and quiet, watching as the spirits breezed by and down the halls.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... we'll be safe for now... it's best that we keep our voices down from now on. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi let Boocille control him for a small window of opportunity and hiding within a small space, his mind having the calming effect while her control of his breathing helped diminish the adrenaline and stop the shaking... Though while she's controlling him, he wasn't able to speak out loud, but maybe thinking could help communicate with the little boo while she's in control. .oO( <em> I-I'll try to... B-but, I've always been afraid of ghosts, and I get scared easily... E-even from me own pooch... I-it's-a like, living in a n-nightmare th-that I can't escape from... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> But you're not scared of me... which is odd. But I promise, neither I nor Polterpup are going to hurt you... but we can't let these poor souls be stuck on this awful ship! Especially with those two tyrants running the show. They'll turn the whole world into nothing but ghosts! ... nobody knows this, but I saw a man, trapped down in the former engine room. He's stuck in a dusty old painting... but there's something down there that's... weird. I'm afraid to touch it because I've seen other Boos go at it and they just... vanish! It's scary... but I think it'll be for the best that we get down there. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>If there <em> was </em> a way past-- .oO( <em> I know how we can get down there without being hidden, but we have to be careful... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Boocille, he can feel control of his own body once more as he gets up and opens the door- though quietly and slowly, to peak around to see if there's any boos or ghosts around. "<em>I-I'll try to be as quiet as I can...</em>" He jutters, sneaking out of the small space, which was a small supply closet and silently closes the door. "<em>Wish I had my trusty flashlight with me...</em>" Luigi spoke to himself while sneaking through one of the many hallways. Just as Luigi gets to a junction that leads towards the engine room, he hears the boos and ghosts go on by quickly. The green stache yelps quietly and freezes, having his body stiffen and shaking again, but once the peep comes out from his mouth, he quickly covers it so he doesn't make another sound in hopes to not attract them.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Shh, it's okay... you're not alone. Myself and Polterpup are here for you... </em> ) Boocille's delicate voice was some respite and comfort in this terror, if just by a small bit. Going through the warped and dreary halls, the whole chamber on the water stunk of wetness and mold. Worse yet, the ship's damned horn blared. Through a destroyed porthole, it revealed that it was starting to leave the dock and sail off! Good lord, where was it going to next?! This was getting worse and worse!</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Shoot! Well, no turning back now... we have no choice but to find this old guy stuck in that dusty picture and get him out before things get even nastier. </em> ) Things were indeed turning grim... just hope that that guy was still down there in that portrait.</p><p> </p><p>After calming himself from Boocille's voice Luigi trekked on, seeing that everything was warped and neglected for <em> years </em>, and with all the invisible mold spores flying around while heading towards the where the picture is stored, Luigi had the urge to sneeze but tries to fight it... To no avail. The green plumber sneezes, "ACHOO!" But, at least it wasn't loud enough to alert the other ghosts.</p><p>Upon hearing the news from Boocille, Luigi goes over to the same destroyed port hole and looks outside, freaking out that the ship has already left the docks of the Mushroom Kingdom. "<em>O-oh n-n-no... We're trapped!</em>" He walks away from the porthole while his mind is flooded with negative thoughts of the worst case scenario. "<em>Wh-what are we going to do..?</em>" He quietly asks Boocille, while continuing the journey to get to the picture.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Gesundheit. </em> ) She knew that the living didn't take well to such a dank and decrepit ship like this. Filled with irritants and allergens, no surprise that people wouldn't be <em> comforted </em> in a place like this. .oO( <em> We can't do much but press forward. If we can find that old guy, we might have a chance to take King Boo and his ugly friend down! I'll make sure you and your friends will be able to get home safe. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>"<em> Th-thank you... </em> " He pressed on, didn't want to stop until he got to the former engine room. Getting to the door, he tries to turn the knob, but the door seems to be jammed - since the knob isn't turning. "Great, the door isn't budging." Luigi tries to use his body to force the door open by slamming into it, but the noise from that was a little too loud. Uh oh... "<em>Come on...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With a gasp, she could hear that the sound echoed long enough to stir attention, especially with the startled cackling of other boos. .oO( <em> Luigi, no! This'll make others come to us! </em> ) As the plumber went for another ram, she forced his body to fade once more, allowing him to plummet through the door. However, her powers were far too heavily drained to allow him to slip through the door. <em> That </em> alone made her feel weak, putting another form besides her own through pipes and tubes, metal and wood. It would likely be <em> days </em> before she could do <em> that </em> again, and they didn't <em> have </em> days to waste away!</p><p> </p><p>Though, this may come back to bite her, not taking into account physics: a body in motion stays in motion. When you have a body slip through a door and keep going, something calamitic is sure to happen...</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi's body goes invisible, he goes through the door and slams his face onto the floor. "OOF! <em> Ow</em>..." Seeing stars, the green plumber shakes his head and gets up. Though, just as he gets up, the ghosts and boos had crossed the jammed door while they muttered of what that noise was, and hoping they could find Luigi. Luckily, they weren't too smart to get into the former engine room as the green stache heard them and covered his mouth again to try to keep himself quiet. .oO( <em> Oh no... </em> ) He thinks to himself.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Shh... it's okay. The big blokes are idiots. They'll never think to look in here. </em> ) Shockingly, she was right! Those big floating dunces were too dim to even consider checking another room, such as the engine room... formerly, that is. .oO( <em> Now, watch your step, Luigi. This place has a device on the floor... King Boo and his ugly friend call it the Extractor. </em> ) Looking to it, it was a <em> horrible </em> machine that sputtered and grinded absently. Almost like it had anxious rows of teeth, it looked ready to grind skin from the bone.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> It rips away people's souls from their bodies, turning them into puppets for them both. It's awful... so keep away from that thing. I know that the old man painting is in here somewhere, though. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods, as he tiptoes to try to find the portrait where the old guy is- but it's a little difficult when the lights don't work. It didn't take long for the green clad to spot the portrait of the old guy and goes over, and noticed that it was... "<em>P-professor E. Gadd!</em>" He gasps, getting right next to the frame and knocks on the wood of it. "Hello!" That was useless... But couldn't help himself to do that.</p><p>After a few seconds, Luigi turns around to look for something that can help him get free from the entrapment... Though he senses within that Boocille is feeling weakened after phasing through the metal door and presses his hand on his chest. "<em>A-are you okay..?</em>" He gently asks her.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Nngh... going through that metal door before. It... it took a lot out of me. I... feel really tired and I don't think I can move right now. </em> ) Her voice was more whisper-quiet, her weakness felt in an aura of limpness that hung heavy in her small presence. Poor thing pulled out the bells and whistles to help Luigi away from those brutish undead fiends!</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... there's... something down here... I think it can help him, but you'll have to find it. I can't touch it, it might be able to hurt me. I can tell you where it is, and we can get him out of there... I think. </em> ) She wasn't entirely sure, but it was better than nothing.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-I'm sorry... Please rest for now, I'll try to not make dumb decisions.</em>" He felt bad for getting Boocille to use her abilities to help him escape, but he had-to press on to find what she's talking about... "<em>Hmm...</em>" Though would need to go through the darkness again and hope to not activate the extractor device that's hidden in the room somewhere. "<em>I-it's hard to see down here...</em>" He <em> definitely </em> wishes he could see better, but kept going on.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling around for a bit, with his fortune, the skies outside suddenly flashed and illuminated the room about him for a crucial second. Ah, there was something kicked off to the corner! Avoiding the gears that jerked and spun randomly, the little device in the floor <em> appeared </em> to be a flashlight, but instead of pure white? It glistened an unusual tinge that seemed to bring to life colors that didn't exist beyond the thrown rays.</p><p> </p><p>After seeing the bright flash, Luigi covers his eyes from the sting of being blinded for a second. "Ack!" Shaking his head, he presses forward to where the flash source was-though it didn't take long to get there since the flash in his eyes helps have an in-print of the room for a short while to 'see' his surroundings.</p><p>Once getting to the source, Luigi noticed that it was the darklight bulb! "H-hey!" He smiles, as he remembers it's the one that he used before, but... How did it activate in the first place? He can't use it properly without the poltergust vacuum. So, he presses on to try to find it, since if he found the darklight, the vacuum should be in the same room.</p><p> </p><p>Despite its brilliant glow, it appears the beam was faint and flickering. Must've lacked a power source... the back appeared to have no battery pack and instead had a plug-in. It must've spasmed to life due to the raw dead energy that charged it somewhat within brief intervals, but it wasn't a reliable source. .oO( <em> ... that looks like it! But... just a piece of it. I remember it was bigger, and had a tube-y thing connected to it. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>So it was around here somewhere... likely just in pieces. Thankfully, the room wasn't <em> huge </em> and was shut off, so it had to be around the dark chamber somewhere!</p><p> </p><p>With the darklight in tow, he could use the brief intervals to search the room slightly better and be more cautious, but neglected to look on the ground right in front of him and trips over something a little bulky, making his face plant onto the floor again. "OOF! Ow... <em> Mama mia... </em>" He sits up and looks back, pointing the darklight to what made him trip, and gets excited that he finally found the poltergust! And it was the same G-00 as well from what he remembers using at the hotel long ago. "H-hey! Found it!" The green goo that was inside the vacuum chamber was completely absent, but it didn't matter at the time, since he quickly grabbed it while standing up and puts it on. "Yes!" Luigi didn't hesitate to screw in the darklight bulb, which also has the function of being a regular light bulb and turns on the light. "I can see a whole lot better now." He says to Boocille while looking around with the light shining all around to make sure the coast is clear and easily get to the painting of Gadd.</p><p>Just as when Luigi gets to the painting, turns on the darklight to shine on it; one of the ghosts pop out from behind the painting and scares Luigi, making him jump back and scoot back. "<b><em>AAIIEEE!!</em></b>" What the ghost was... It was the captain! Hatty, in his ghostly form. "<em>N-n-no no...</em>" He shakes in fear as he quickly gets up and grabs hold at the end of the hose from the poltergust, ready to defend himself while shining the light at him.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Aahh!! W-wait! That's the captain! It's really him! Hurry, flash him with the light, the brightest light you can! He's stronger than a regular ghost. </em> ) Boocille warned Luigi, her stubs waving frantically with her eyes whited out with panic.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Huhuhauahahahaha!! Such a pitiful little coward you are!! You're so scared stiff..~ I don't even believe King Maya would have </em> <b> <em>any</em> </b> <em> use for a coward like yourself! You'll just be a little morsel for him to devour! A mere skipping stone to kick out of his way!!</em>" The wraith's essence shook a ghastly rattle, striking at Luigi with alarming strength. "<b><em>You're not even an obstacle to overcome!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>As he squared in on Luigi after the plumber was trying to recover from being smacked back from the ghostly captain, Boocille unexpectedly jumped out, grabbing Hatty with her tiny stumpy mitts. "<em>Rrhh..!! Luigi, hurry! Stun him, don't worry about me! Get him before he does something!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Shivering, Luigi was vulnerable enough to get hit from Hatty and fell back a little ways, but quickly gets up as he charges up the strobulb part of the flashlight and releases the charge, hoping to stun the captain in his place- which was successful. "<em>Don't expect me t-to run away th-this time...</em>" Once stunned, he switches to the vacuum head and sucks up Hatty... But this was going to be a tough fight as Hatty tries to get away from being sucked into the vacuum and gets dragged along. "Wh-WHOAAHH!"</p><p> </p><p>The light froze his body, his face twisting in an expression of extreme anger... nothing that the jolly captain <em> ever </em> had in life! "<em>ACK!! YOU BASTARD SPAWN!! </em> <b> <em>RELEASE ME!!</em></b>" Struggling and writhing, his hands clutched at the portrait. Spitefully, he rose a hand and sought to tear the canvas. "<em>You had best let me go, or I'll tear this bloody pain--</em>" His voice sputtered and he cried out, the suction proving too strong and forced him into the chamber.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>--TIIIiiiiiinng..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After some struggle to suck up Hatty within, Luigi was finally successful. He hears something rattling inside the chamber, in which the vacuum spits out a key and lands onto the floor. He takes off his hat and wipes away the sweat from his head. "Thew... That was hard..." The green glad plumber said to himself and puts his hat back on. "Boocille..? Where are you?" He worries about her, after she defended him from Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Um... kind of stuck.</em>" Her muffled voice came out from the vacuum. Whoops. "<em>LET ME OUT OF HERE, DAMMIT!! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO THE DARKEST PITS OF HELL!!</em>" His boomed as he smashed the inside of the vessel he was in. " <em> Don't worry about me! Get that guy out of the painting! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi hears Boocille inside the poltergust and frowns, though hearing her that she's at least okay, he walks over to the key and picks it up, putting it in his pocket before turning the darklight on the painting. It took mere seconds for Gadd to come out of the painting and face plant onto the floor. The green plumber couldn't help but snicker when he fell to the floor, but went over to help the old man up. "<em>P-professor Gadd... A-are you okay?</em>" He lends out a hand to help him up.</p><p>After Gadd had gotten up from the floor and looked around in the dark room, he noticed that Luigi was right next to him. "Luigi! Good to see you again, boy!" he chuckles comically with a happy smile while brushing the dust off of him. "Wh-what are you doing here?" Luigi asks him, since pretty much he only sees Gadd when there're evil ghosts around and causing havoc, though it was his second time he had-to free him from an individual painting, but it was technically the third time.</p><p>"Oh, I got here because there was paranormal activity on this ship. But before I was able to do much from just getting on, King Boo was released from the vault that was in my boat without knowing and captured me without hesitation." He mutters his little bit of what happened to him.</p><p>Luigi shivers in fear every time he heads the name, 'King Boo'. "<em>H-he also captured my bro again from what I heard, and this time, h-he's not alone in this...</em>" He whimpers, knowing full well that this will be the hardest <em> fight </em> he'll ever face, even harder than last time in the hotel. "<em>W-w-we're also stranded on th-this ship, since it docked in the Mushroom Kingdom, then after M-Mario and I, a-as well as Peach, Daisy and several toads got on the ship, it d-didn't take long f-for it to go back into the s-sea...</em>" When he feels scared, his speech gets jittery and hard to keep straight.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't you worry, I'll help you get your family back once again, Luigi~" He couldn't help but laugh a bit from Luigi being so scared easily. "But since we're trapped on this ship, the ghosts here might have taken my boat inside to keep it. We do need to get there." Gadd tells the green plumber as he heads to the metal door. "Come along, we should get moving." Gadd tells Luigi as the green plumber picks up the extractor that Boocille mentioned earlier and stuffs it in his pocket. Luckily it was a small device though.</p><p>Luigi sighs heavily as he follows Gadd to the metal door. He remembers about the plunger adapter on the poltergust G-00, and launches it to the door. Using the vacuum on the rope part of the plunger, he yanks the door hard enough for it to swing open. He felt so relieved that the door was finally open and both him and Gadd could get to the loading dock. As soon as Luigi opened the door, he realized that he'll have-to either fight his way there, or try to be sneaky to not be detected from the other ghosts and boos that are going through hallways and cabins... It's not easy to do with Luigi being afraid and scared of ghosts, even when he was a kid.</p><p> </p><p>It was a pain to know where the loading dock was at, since the S.S. Friendship is a little confusing of where anything is at while looking around with nothing but the flashlight. As Luigi and Gadd finally find the doors that lead to the loading dock, the two hear ghosts coming and quickly hide in a small closet before the ghosts spot them. Luckily there's at least one supply closet on each floor, so that's a plus. Of course, Luigi couldn't help but shiver as they came close, but kept his mouth covered up with his hands. He <em> really </em> doesn't want to fight them, at least not yet, since he needs to get Gadd to the loading dock, probably they think that's where Gadd's boat is.</p><p> </p><p>The loading dock was... massive, but empty. A void hull that creaked with the skeletal mass of metal and wood which was aged beyond its worth. A ruined, neglected ship that was rotting at the seams. Spaces in the floor above made holes in the ceiling where heavy, hanging moss drooped. The stink of stagnant, salty waters filled the air with the mustiness being nearly choking. "<em>... I don't like this place... it feels awful. So heavy in here.</em>" Boocille squeaked out, her small spirit causing some parts of the machine on Luigi's back to glow. "<em>The lot of you won't get away with this!!</em>" Hatty cracked out, spitting swears out and still hitting the container. "<em>King Boo and King Maya will come and take you both and rip your souls into shreds!! You and this </em> <b> <em>worthless</em> </b> <em> outlier!</em>" "<em>I am </em> <b> <em>not</em> </b> <em> worthless!</em>" Boocille argued against the other spirit, puffing her cheeks. "<em>You don't even remember who you used to be, you goon! You were brainwashed by both of them... you're not yourself, you don't even know what you're saying.</em>" Boocille knew of their awful ways, it seems... to a degree. It was still unsure just how strong the terrible duo actually were. In due time, it will be brought to light.</p><p> </p><p>Further into the gut of the docking station, parts of the floor were... <em> missing</em>. It looked like the ship struck something and it tore part of the wood away. Some sort of ghostly energy kept the air and pressure within the hull even, allowing the ship to rock and sway without any problems, but it revealed the waters below that rushed beneath them. For a corpse of a ship, it moved <em> fast </em> and ventured further into the open sea. Without a map or functioning power, it was doomed to be lost on the waters for some time before washing up ashore again to trick more innocent souls into becoming part of the evil machine...</p><p> </p><p>Down the dark chasm, E. Gadd's ship was eventually found! However, the ship itself was <em> destroyed </em> . The deck and hull were in pieces, the full ship broken into two with gadgets that were ravaged. The Boos seemed to be unimpressed by the vessel... but, thankfully, were too dim to break the <em> technologies </em> aboard.</p><p> </p><p>It's too bad that most of what Hatty has been spewing out from within the machine was muffled a bit, but the glow had not gone unnoticed. Turning his head a bit to look back, he could overhear the two arguing within the poltergust. Luigi frowns from their argument while listening even more, though Gadd was intrigued that one of the ghosts inside the vacuum is actually friendly- but neither of them wanted the two ghosts to argue. "Intriguing! One of the ghosts you caught is friendly." "<em>Y-yes, but she actually h-helped save me from being captured.</em>" This intrigued Gadd even more, since a Boo is on their side instead of the others. They continue on to get to the destroyed boat while being careful of not falling through the flooring that's not holding up as well anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Once inside E. Gadd's boat, most of the gadgets have been destroyed from the boos and ghosts trashing the place, but at least the ghost is resilient enough to not get damaged. Gadd noticed something poking out from Luigi's pocket and pointed it out. "I see you have something in your pocket, can I please look at it?" He asks, which promptly gets Luigi to pull it out from his pocket. "Boocille said that this is the extractor that caused all of the crew from this ship to be turned into ghosts."</p><p> </p><p>"So that's her name that saved you?" Gadd asks Luigi, since he heard the green-clad mention her name. "Hmm... Since she's a boo, she must be related to the other boos." "Well..." Luigi mutters, "<em>S-she's related to K-K-King B-B-Boo...</em>" Ugh, still having a hard time even saying his name - which makes his body shake in terror of just <em> thinking </em> about that Boo. Though while Luigi was talking, the Professor noticed the all too familiar icon on the extractor device... It was one of his own gadgets! "Oh, the boos must have stolen this device while back in the hotel. Those jerks!" Luigi looks puzzled... Until he remembers, when King Boo had found Gadd's base at the hotel, and probably the extractor dropped and survived the fall. "I-is there a way to reverse it, to bring the crew back?" Luigi asks Gadd. "Ahh yes there is! And I can use it to test out with the ghost we just caught." The professor tells the plumber before working on reversing the device to bring the ghosts back to their physical forms.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Not to interrupt, but is there a way for me to get out of here?</em>" The female specter sheepishly asked, still floating in the container that held her in prison with the more irate spirit. In this encumbered state, being locked in this claustrophobic nightmare of a machine, Hatty's face was barely seen through a glass case that showed the wisping spirits flitting about.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You both will deeply regret this, I'm sure of it!! Eventually, you both will be found!! King Maya will have your hides and King Boo will make you both part of his undead manifesto! You'll be nothing more than either peons like we, or you'll be crushed like the insects you are!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>They both can tell that Boocille asks nicely to be freed, while Hatty wasn't so nice... "<em>W-we'll get you both out...</em>" Luigi tells them both as he goes to the vault and shoves the nozzle head onto the vault injector, which pumps Hatty inside the ghost vault to keep him from escaping, but luckily that Boocille was still inside the poltergust. At least it'll help keep Hatty at bay for now while Gadd works on the vault to send the ghosts of the crew mates into the device and spit right out, back into their original forms; while any boos captured stay inside the vault.</p><p> </p><p>"There we go, finished!" It didn't take long to switch the extractor from turning the living into ghosts, to turn the ghosts back into the living. "<em>Th-that's good, but how d-do we get </em> Boocille <em> out..?</em>" Luigi asks Gadd while showing his back with Boocille inside. "Not to worry, give me the poltergust and I'll help you out." The professor asks for the vacuum and the green-clothed lad takes it off to give it to him. Gadd quickly went to work on it and made a special hidden chamber within the poltergust for Boocille so that she can leave the vacuum whenever she pleases, which helped her get free though he put a special chip hidden under one of the cute boo's flowers.</p><p>"There, now you're free, and in case if you get sucked up again, you can leave it any time." Gadd says to Boocille as he hands the poltergust back to Luigi so that he puts it back on his back.</p><p> </p><p>With E. Gadd helping her discover that mysterious little opening, Boocille fluttered out and shook her head, readjusting to the darkness outside of the dull glow of the poltergust chamber. "<em>Ouuh... thank you, Dr. E. Gadd.</em>" Fixing one of her flowers, she looked as good as new... though she was obviously weakened with how close she floated to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>"It's no problem, as long as we are able to free everyone." Gadd tells Boocille as he picks up her and hops on the chair that was thankfully, wasn't broken or destroyed.</p><p> </p><p>Being forced into this unusual conversion machine, Hatty's voice still pierced through the device as it whirred to life. "<em> You'll rue your actions, you damnableeeaaaaAAH!! </em> " His voice puttered out as his being was cut from the invisible puppeteering strings of the dual masterminds behind the madness. Soon, the captain's physical form spat out from a burst of steam and slammed against the wall. Confused, dizzy and <em> remarkably </em> well dressed, he slid down against the wall and sat on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... whe... w-... wha... w-what is this place? W... w-where's my ship? Where's my crew? W-who are you two? What's going on here?</em>" It seems that his memories were mottled from being in the incorporeal state, and having been brainwashed, it would take some time to recall everything.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi is happy that the device actually worked after seeing Hatty being spat out, "Hey, it worked!" Gadd jumps for joy as the green-clothed lad goes over to Hatty and helps him up after the captain slid to the floor- even though hesitant to get close at first. "<em>A-are you o-okay..?</em>" He cautiously asks as he lends out a hand.</p><p> </p><p>As she was set to rest, she looked up to see Hatty in the <em> flesh </em> , freed and unburdened now walk on his own two solid feet. The man spoke dizzily, his senses returning after what felt like <em> generations </em> worth of darkness had come to pass. He was able to stand sturdy thanks to Luigi's aid. "Thank you, sir. ... I... I-I don't know... what happened..? This... t-this isn't my ship, is it..?"</p><p> </p><p>Boocille sighed out and spoke. "<em>Sadly, it is... your ship was taken hostage by an undead and demonic force that both came together for an evil cause. It's awful... but... we're here to stop it. I can't promise that we can bring your ship back to the way it was, but we can guarantee everyone's freedom.</em>" "... so... it wasn't just a nightmare... it wasn't a dream. What happened was <em> real</em>. My brother... Rigel... Nigel... <em> everyone</em>... the ghosts... good God, it's all <em> my </em> fault."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... what do you mean?</em>" "I... I sailed our ship <em> straight </em> into accursed waters, sure that we could find adventure! But every sign pointed us from going forth... the fog, the rocks, the brewing storm... but like a <em> fool </em> , I pushed our ship forward without considering the cost it would bring with it. ... and now, all that I, my family and our crew had built up... now it's merely a <em> carcass</em>."</p><p> </p><p>"That wasn't particularly smart of you, <em> especially </em> for a captain like yourself - but the <em> adventure </em> actually found <em> you </em> instead." Gadd chimes in, while sitting idly by and gently patting Boocille to help her rest on his lap. "But since we're trapped here, my name's Elven Gadd. You can call me Gadd if you like."</p><p>His grip helped the captain up from off the floor and let's go after he gained his balance again. "Th-that's terrible to what happened to everyone here," Luigi mutters out as he <em> somewhat </em> introduces himself, "But at least me, Luigi, can help get the crew back." With a smile, he puts away the nozzle part of the poltergust and points to himself, winking his eye to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"I <em> know </em> it was an unwise idea... and I <em> paid </em> for it in full. I have <em> nothing </em> now. It feels like <em> centuries </em> I've been trapped in this damned ship now. I likely have no riches or royalties anymore... just the corpse of a vessel that was once the <em> beacon </em> of my family's pride." He sighed sadly, though the grip from the plumber helped him stay steady and grounded him out of his sorrow. "... that's <em> some </em> relief to hear that I'm not facing this alone. But what could <em> I </em> possibly offer? I've never fought <em> ghosts </em> before. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Gadd... but how could I possibly help at all? I feel awful just sitting idly..."</p><p> </p><p>Gadd taps his chin while thinking a bit, "Hmm..." He spins his chair around as he doesn't take long to dig out an extra poltergust that hasn't been used in a long while, but tinkers with it to have the same feature with accidentally sucking up Boocille and possibly another feature as well down the road before turning back around. "Here you go, this can help you capture the ghosts of your crew as well as the boos that are haunting your ship." The professor tosses the extra poltergust over to Hatty for him to catch.</p><p>With Hatty going to help out, Luigi feels a little more confident to help reach the goal of freeing the crew as well as his family. "My family has been captured as well... Again, but not turned into ghosts, but into paintings." He points out, "But together, we can make a great team!" Sounds like a good teammate, since working alone makes him timid and scared... But he doesn't know if Hatty is scared of ghosts or not.</p><p> </p><p>His eyes lit up as the spare device was tossed to him, catching it and hitching it on firmly. "... ah, this... this feels appropriate. Thank you, Doctor Gadd. I'll be sure to do well and free both Luigi's family, my ship, and undo what horrible fate I've caused. I won't allow this to consume anyone else. This is <em> my </em> cross to bear... especially you, Mr. Luigi. I'm sorry that my awful decision has come to haunt you. No pun intended." Boocille giggled weakly, slightly lulled onto the chair. "<em>... I would come and help, but... hff... I can barely move.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"You don't need to worry. You can rest. Luigi and I will do our best to free everyone from their curse and paintings. Though we'll have to be careful... that one... that Maya. I don't know if these things can work on something like <em> him</em>. He's so powerful... it's horrific. What he can do seems to bend the laws of <em> nature </em> itself." Saying that alone made his blood run cold... but instead, he physically shivered, feeling a bitter cold clap the back of his neck. "Brr... ... did anyone else feel a draft?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi wonders <em> who </em> this Maya was, since fearing the unknown made himself shiver as well, though his legs were the most noticeable. The green-clad plumber takes a deep breath to try to fight his fear and shakes his head. "W-we should get going." Though after hearing Boocille, he waves to both her and Gadd. "Don't worry, you deserve rest after saving me from being captured." Luigi tells her as he heads out, and this time, with Hatty alongside... But Gadd stops them before they leave completely.</p><p>"Before you go, you'll need this." Gadd tosses a communication device that looks like a portable video game console to Luigi, which catches it, but fumbles with it before holding it firmly. "The GameBoo Advance SP will help keep us in communication remotely and give advice in a pinch." Luigi nods before continuing on with Hatty out the boat and back into the loading dock of the ship... Which is dark inside and could barely see their hand in front of their faces without their flashlights.</p><p> </p><p>Giving a nod, Hatty stayed in the two-man team with Luigi as the sweet Boo rested on the chair. "We'll be alright as you rest, Ms. Boo." "Boocille, and thank you, captain." Boocille nodded and gave the two her dearest blessing as they went off on their adventure back into the loading dock. Swallowing thickly, Hatty felt an uneasy feeling in the air. It felt heavy and dark... "... do you feel that, Mr. Luigi? I feel something." It wasn't <em> ghostly </em> , it wasn't <em> demonic </em>. Something felt... off... like something was approaching them. The dreary darkness of the ship was enveloping before something could catch their eye.</p><p> </p><p>"... d-don't these things have some sort of sensor to find out what's around us?"</p><p> </p><p>It looks like Luigi wasn't the only one feeling scared as his body began to shiver in fear as he turned on his flashlight to look around to find <em> something </em> that Hatty was talking about while continuing on. "<em>I-I feel th-that a-as well...</em>" Luigi chatters as he charges his strobulb to prepare for an encounter.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty looked to his flashlight and tried to turn it on. Dammit, his flashlight wasn't going on! Giving it a small whack, it wasn't charging fast enough. "<em>Oh, come on, please go on..!</em>" Luckily, the two's flashlights came on before long and illuminated what looked like darkness... with a <em> body</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Before them, who will-of-the-wisps of green flames swirled about that lit up the place with an eerie glow as the form before them took shape. A woman's delicate yet <em> hypertrophic </em> proportions towered over the two... she was easily able to touch the ceiling with the top of her head! The glisten of metal was her face with a cold visage that stared with unemotional eyes. Hatty whimpered out, taking a small step back.</p><p> </p><p>After a moment of tense silence, the being spoke. "<em>Be not afraid, humans. I have not come for either of you... I found this emptiness within time and space that will not harm my essence of absolute nothingness.</em>" "... wh... L-Luigi, is... d-does Gadd have a record on... <em> this</em>? W-what <em> is this</em>?" Hatty was shaking so hard that it was starting to rattle the machine on his back... now, Hatty didn't fear ghosts. But this being? Was <em> horrifying </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi whipped the flashlight towards the being in front of them and unleashed the bright flash at her... With no reaction from it whatsoever. Though, it was a reflex the plumber has known to do before while having the light shown on her. "<em>Wh-who a-are y-y-you..?</em>" Luigi gulps as he gets behind Hatty, since he noticed that the captain was taller than him- but not by much. He was also dumbfounded by who she is, since Gadd never said <em> anything </em> about her existence... Or maybe the professor doesn't know about her at all.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Your lights cannot disturb me, for I am neither alive nor dead. I am simply a presence that exists to maintain balance... I've come to show you the way to combat the powers that such technology alone may not best. I am Tenebrae Semper... daughter of eternity... the mother of death. All that die are brought to my hands for their judgment and sent to their respective afterlife. However, it is my purpose to maintain balance between life and death. The trapped dead here and forced into unlife bodies have caused cataclysmic events.</em>" "... w-what do you mean..?" Hatty shuddered, realizing her form was like black fire that shone no light. It was simply <em> darkness </em> itself.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>The dead here remain trapped, I cannot put them to rest, I cannot allow them to complete their destinies... the living deserve to life, and dead deserve to remain sleeping. A horrible thief has robbed souls from their eternal slumber, and a vagarious creature made from the petty shadow seeks power so useless that he's willing to topple </em> <b> <em>my</em> </b> <em> balance. Because of this man-child demon and his little lap dog, babes are dying within the womb. The suffering living cannot die. Birth is stalled and rejected, death is avoided and bodies are crippled beyond use. I myself cannot strike out against them, for I cannot risk my form bleeding into your world. My very presence can </em> <b> <em>devour</em> </b> <em> all matter... if I were to strike them down myself, the world may follow. A black hole that eats all that has been, is, and will be.</em>" "... t-then what can we do..?" "<em>I can give you both a... modification, to those machines...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing all that is said from Tenebrae, Luigi keeps himself in defense, since he wouldn't want to be close to her- knowing full well now that even <em> touching </em> her can make his own being vanish into non-existence. "<em>Wh-what k-kind of m-modifications..?</em>" The green-clothed lad shakingly asks her.</p><p> </p><p>Approaching the two, her body simply glided... she didn't move, she didn't have <em> legs</em>. Raising a hand, from finger to elbow, was donned a vicious set of gauntlets. Nearly two feet long, these claws were razor sharp, able to tear through the fabric of reality. Pressing a claw tip against Luigi's first, a spot of blackness emerged from the contact before spreading across it. Suddenly, it developed what looked like a small revolver chamber, barrel and muzzle.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>That is a void missile. A small pellet that contains my very essence. It can easily destroy physical matter, and can leave spirits too weak to fight. However, stronger spirits won't be as easily taken down, though will be weakened nonetheless. This will help you to defeat the Lord of Illusion. If the consequences for my own involvement wouldn't be... messy, I would have torn the bastard anew.</em>" "... w-why would you help us with this? I-is this causing that much of a problem." "<em>It's no longer a problem. It's a humanitarian crisis. Maya has essentially made a Yemen civil rights upheaval for the dead. However, use these sparingly. With each used, it can tamper with the veil of life and death. The living can be harmed by using them far too much and the dead can simply... vanish. Poof. Gone. No soul or remnants.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi squeaks from her claws, but what she's doing to his poltergust, it gets modified with a new nozzle that looks like a small missile launcher along with a separate ammo chamber. Though hearing that the void missiles would do, he doesn't want to test it out and switches the missile nozzle back to the flashlight. "<em>I-I hope we d-don't need t-to use it...</em>" Luigi gulps, feeling a little better that she wasn't here to harm them, but to help set things right again.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>This will be necessary against stronger entities... such as that vagrant King Boo. That little arse pain that was shot into the world crowns himself... the worthless peon. Go now. You shall end their miserable reign... I shall keep an eye over both of you, as death is always present.</em>" Well that was... comforting. With her body fading and the flames burning out, Hatty was left shivering.</p><p> </p><p>"... sh... she... <em> she's </em> the Grim Reaper..? Oh Lord have mercy..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looked up to Hatty with a worried expression with a little bit of sadness on his face after she disappeared, "<em>I d-don't know...</em>" The plumber pondered as he unhidden himself from behind the captain.</p><p>Then, Luigi remembered something, he digs the key out of his pocket and shows it to Hatty. "Do you know where this key goes to?" He wondered, since the captain should know where all the keys would go to.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down to the key, Hatty's eyes lit up. "Oh, I know that key... that's to the mess hall! It leads back into the kitchen. I think we can get there... if-if the floor there hasn't completely collapsed in, that is." Granted, the ceiling above them stared up at the underside of the deck. The state of this ship made his heart sink, staring up forlorn at the ruined structure.</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, I hope it isn't collapsed either." Luigi felt sad that Hatty's ship had gone into a state of neglect after all these years, thanks to what King Boo and Maya had done to him and the crew mates. But all the while, he tries to gain the bravery and strength to power through - even though his fears are almost impossible to overcome and come at him without warning. "Well, let's-a go!" The green-clothed lad blurted out as he pointed in the direction of the stairs, since that was the only spot in the loading dock to have a little bit of light shine into that'll lead the way.</p><p> </p><p>"Aye. I'll be sure that your family is freed. It's what you deserve for your courage. You've gone through this before, as you've said, and I don't want you to feel totally alone on this... even though we... a-apparently have <em> death </em> itself... o-or herself helping us." He was still shaken about seeing <em> death </em> appear before them and assist them... however, this little supernatural modification would prove most helpful in battling the demon king. These vacuums for spooky things might not be that effective against a <em> demon </em> spirit with more hookage to the physical world.</p><p> </p><p>Leading the way to the stairs, Hatty gave the handrail a small shake. "Good, it's still sturdy. Luigi, hold onto this. These stairs look completely rotted, and I don't want either of us to go barreling down into the drink below."</p><p> </p><p>"Oh yeah! And I hope that I can help you with getting your crew mates freed as well." Luigi replies as he doesn't hesitate to follow Hatty alongside, though being cautious of climbing up the stairs and checking each step in hopes of not having it collapse on him. Each step makes a small creek, making him jump a bit and grabs onto the railing tightly and makes him nervous.</p><p>Once both Hatty and Luigi get to the top, they peak out and look around to see if the coast is clear before pressing on with their flashlight turned on. Of course, Luigi couldn't help but have his body shiver in nervousness and fear, while having his vocal cords make a whimper sound for a brief moment before he slowly proceeds into one of many hallways by tip toeing to try not to make a peep.</p><p> </p><p>At the top of the stairs, Hatty heard the other's fearful whimpers and grasped his hand, giving it a small squeeze. "It's okay, Mr. Luigi. You're not alone. You have a friend with you." With Hatty's mind clear of the warping fog of manipulation, he remembered his principles, morals and decency. Especially to someone as horrified as Luigi. "The mess hall is due left through a large pair of double doors." Heading in that direction, the doors still stood, ornamental if not mossy. Shocked the lock still functioned and hadn't collapsed outwards. "... I have a pit in my gut. Someone's in there, I can hear it."</p><p> </p><p>Holding onto Hatty's hand for a moment helps him calm down a little bit while following him to the mess hall. Just as they get there, one of the ghosts of the crew mates come down the hallway and spots the two, which spectral gates slam down on the doors of the mess hall to trap the two and had Luigi jump from seeing the gate shut on them. Uh oh...</p><p>It was the ghost of Aaron! Luigi's mustache frayed out in fear as he spotted the ghost coming towards them while Hatty was busy trying to unlock the door. "<em>O-ohh n-no...</em>" Though he charges up his strobulb and releases its charge, freezing Aaron in place before switching the nozzle to the vacuum and starts sucking him up, but like last time, he was dragged away from Hatty but tries to pull back.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the spectral gates snap shut before the door, Hatty watches as Luigi demonstrates the strobulb and poltergust machine. Seeing Luigi being yanked away, he hurried over and hooked Luigi under an arm, adding weight and stability to keep him from being dragged about. "<em>I got you! Keep pouring it on!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>WIth Hatty holding the plumber in place, he ramps up the suction a bit and gives it a good tug. Aaron tries to get away, but the suction was too much and gets swallowed into the poltergust. At least this one wasn't as hard as the last one, but both Luigi and Hatty fell back onto the floor after the resistance went away. "OOF! <em> Ow...</em>" Luigi shakes his head as he gets up from the floor and brushes himself off. "That one wasn't as hard, but at least he's not going anywhere." He mentioned as the spectral gates lift up and disappear.</p><p> </p><p>Flying backwards from the momentum bouncing back on them, he was a rather pleasant pillow to break Luigi's fall before shaking his head and coming to his senses. "Ouch... forgot how much pain stank. But glad we got him... oh, that's <em> Aaron!</em> Oh, lord... Aaron. Such a good mate. It <em> pains </em> me to see any of my friends in such a bad state." He sighed before climbing up and dusting himself off. "... welp, into the kitchen. Lord, I hope there's no knives. Bit unfair to bring knives to a vacuum fight."</p><p> </p><p>"Well, at least we can free him once we get back to Gadd later on~" Luigi pats Hatty's shoulder as he gets the key out to unlock the mess hall doors. After shoving the key inside the keyhole and turns it, the key vanishes! What... "Oh, this again..." The plumber sighs, grabbing the door knob and opens it slowly to peak inside.</p><p> </p><p>While peeking inside, Luigi sees a rather large ghost in the center of the mess hall, just chowing down on food like nobody's business, but the ghost is too focused on eating rather than chasing anyone. Though, there were two ghosts that came from the kitchen that are helping load up some more food.</p><p> </p><p>Surely, sneaking on by to the kitchen will help, since the green-clothed lad doesn't want to attract attention while he sneakily enters inside and has his back and vacuum against the wall, just in case if any other ghosts decide to notice him and Hatty while feeling nervous. "<em>C-come on...</em>" He nervously chatters quietly to Hatty, as he sees the doors of the kitchen not far from their location.</p><p> </p><p>Ducking into the mess hall, Hatty spoke hushed while walking close to Luigi. "<em>Dear Lord have mercy... that's Fargus! But... he's even more engorged. He looks like a bean bag... what on God's green Earth happened to him?</em>" He kept his eyes trained on the lardasstic crew member, carefully creeping along the trail along with Luigi in tow. "<em>Quickly... to the kitchen. We have to head there.</em> <em>He's more focused on the food... plus, I don't even think he'll fit in the vacuums.</em>" The tip-toeing against the creaky floors was muffled beneath Fargus' slobbering noises and heavy smacking, fixated on the dishes that kept flying practically <em>down</em> his throat. "<em>... he's turned every one of my crew mates into bastardizations of themselves.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi doesn't know what to say about how the crew mates have changed since Hatty remembers, since he never met any of them before this. Though he's glad that Fargus doesn't hear either of them nor seeing their flashlights while getting to the kitchen doors. Once Luigi had gotten to the kitchen, there was lots of black smoke coming from the swivel doors as he opened it, making him cough from the thick smoke. "<em>I-it's so th-thick...</em>" Luigi coughs as he turns on the vacuum nozzle to suck up the smoke to breathe better.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty followed the other's initiative and sucked up the smoke, coughing much more harshly due to a childhood lung affliction that had troubled him earlier in his life now aggravated by the thick smoke. "<em>Good lord, it stinks like burning hair..!</em>" With the smog cleared, it was revealed the source. An overworked oven that was <em> literally </em> in flames that looked ready to explode! Gasping out, Hatty rushed forward and tried to turn it off. Consequently, the second he touched the knob, it <em> blew </em> back a plume of flames that sent him slamming into the wall behind him.</p><p> </p><p>Heavily dazed, it took a moment to clear his head of the stars before seeing the familiar ghost of Gordon, hovering over the chef's counter. "<em>Who dares invade the kitchen while the chefs are busy?! Chef, we have intruders!!</em>" "W-wait, Gordon! It's me, Hatty! Don't you remember? I'm your captain!" "<em>I take no orders from a measly captain, I take orders only from either King Boo, or Lord Maya!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing what happened, Luigi didn't hesitate to help Hatty up from where he landed, lending a hand to help the captain up, "<em>Are you okay..?</em>" He asks as he turns to Gordon and Chef while charging up his strobulb again. "<em>W-we'll s-stop y-you...</em>" Luigi mutters with a shivering breath and shaking fear and thinking what the two ghosts would do to him and Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Erk-- I'm fine...</em>" Hatty insisted, having the wind knocked clear from his lungs before hoisting up the business end of the poltergust. "Look alive, friend!" "<em>Haha, you think we're such pitiful fools that we'll fall to you both!</em>" Gordon's arms rose up, causing dishes to swirl and fly about in the air before they <em> dashed </em> towards the two.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EVASIVE!</em>" Hatty cried, urging Luigi down, pushing him against a sturdy wall to protect him from the flying platters. "Shoot, they're armed!"</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi sees the dishes float in the air and hurls towards them, he yelps out as he tries to dodge the utensils by leaping under one of the counters in the center; which are much more <em> deadly </em> if getting hit from just one of them - <em> especially </em> the sharp knives. The green-clothed plumber was clutching the nozzle and shivers a little more violently in fear, but doesn't realize that he got hit on his side from one of the said utensils, since he's more focused on surviving the fight than his injury. "<em>M-M-Mario...</em>" He unconsciously mutters his brother's name out quietly of reflex, since he wishes his brother is there by his side while hoping that Gordon and Chef don't find him.</p><p>Of course the spectral gates come down again to shut both Hatty and Luigi in...</p><p> </p><p> Glancing at the gates, Hatty uttered a hushed "drat" before noticing the wound on Luigi's side. "<em>Luigi, you've been hit!</em>" He noticed a bit of blood trickling down, a rather nasty cut left by a sharpened knife head that was now <em> pierced </em> into one of the sliding drawers. "<em>... stay down, and keep towards cover. Don't risk yourself. I think I have an idea.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Even though Luigi is cowering behind the counter, hearing that he got hit makes him freak out and goes pale - just the <em> sight </em> of blood can make him faint, so he doesn't look at his side where the pain starts flooding his mind while trying to hold onto his wound to stop the bleeding with his free hand. Also seeing the sharp knives float around and screams out, knowing that <em> this </em> could end him quickly if he doesn't act fast enough.</p><p> </p><p>Flipping onto his knees, Hatty crawled forwards while holding the nozzle between the crook of his chest and arm. Rushing over with Gordon and Chef having the knives focused around the counter that Luigi had ducked behind, they were both wild-eyed and manic, just <em> eager </em> to bullet him with blades. "<em>Come on out, plumber boy! You're outmatched!</em>" Having managed to crawl around the two as they were ready to end the plumber's life, Hatty's machine sprang to life as he focused the vacuum head at the butts of the knives. They shivered in the air before being <em> sucked </em> into the container. "You don't bring <em> knives </em> to a vacuum fight! That's not how you play fair, Gordon!"</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty is focused on the knives and sucking the knives up that were in front of him, Luigi realizes his opportunity and lifts up the nozzle over the counter. Luckily that Luigi held that flash charge the entire time and flashed the charged bright light to both Chef and Gordon to stun them as the two were distracted by the captain.</p><p>Once unleashing the bright light, he looks up from over the counter slightly to see if the two ghosts were stunned - which thankfully it was a successful blow and leaps out to get Gordon with the vacuum nozzle. Of course, just like last time, the green-clothed lad gets dragged while the head cook tries to fly away from the suction, but Luigi pulls back and tries to keep his ground. "I-I got you th-this time!" He says as he keeps tugging; but after a few seconds, he loses his grip on Gordon and tumbles back a bit, landing on his butt. At least it drained a lot of Gordon's 'health' in the process as he gets back up and shakes his head. Now his fight and flight has been activated, and wants to fight instead of running away to survive- even with the injury.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing over after Luigi went tumbling, Hatty was swift to pull him away from any potential danger from the immediate vicinity. "<em>You haven't seen the last of us!</em>" Gordon and Chef spun about and flew deeper into the kitchen, into where it was likely the freezer. "Luigi... hold still, let me see if I can patch you up. I remember there being a first aid kit around here somewhere. Might be a touch old, but it's better than nothing." After some nosing around, he found where it was hidden and pulled it out, performing a nurse's aid job on the injured green plumber.</p><p> </p><p>"... it's not <em> too </em> serious, just a bit ugly looking. It should heal with a bit of aid... hold your breath, this might sting." And sting it <em> did </em>. Some antiseptic in the wound cleansed it of any humors, leaving it foaming and bubbling before being bandaged up. "There..."</p><p> </p><p>After being dragged back to safety, Luigi tries to hold onto his breath; but when the antiseptic touches his wound, he gasps and yelps out from the stinging pain while looking away from Hatty's patchwork on his side. "<b><em>EEOWW!!</em></b>" He had-to cover his mouth quickly to quiet himself, remembering that any kind of noise can attract the ghosts and boos. "<em>I-I'm s-sorry...</em>" The scared plumber apologizes to the captain as he finishes patching his side with a large bandage to cover the wound.</p><p> </p><p> "Oh- sorry..!" Hatty was more concerned with the anguished cry the pipe artificer let out, seeing how he squirmed and teared up. Goodness, he didn't know it would be <em> that </em> bad! "Does it feel a tiny bit better? I'm sorry I didn't give a better warning..."</p><p> </p><p>"I-it's not your fault... I'm just sensitive to pain once I feel it..." Luigi replies, wiping away the tears of pain. "<em>Th-thank you for helping me...</em>" Luigi gives a small smirk as he sits up from their hiding spot, peaking around to see where Gordon and Chef went off while shining his light around to see better. "<em>Wh-where did they go..?</em>" He whispers to the captain and worries of the two finding them without warning.</p><p> </p><p>"They went <em> that </em> way." He pointed over to a set of swaying double doors. "That's the meat freezer... make sure your stunner is charged." Leading the way, he gave the door an experimental kick to see if something was hiding behind it. Nope. Good. Time to move forward before something else showed up.</p><p> </p><p>Even though Hatty has the older poltergust 5000, Luigi helps show the captain how to use the vacuum as well as also the charge for his strobulb by showing the triggers on his own nozzle. "... So that's how you use it." He chuckles, rubbing his neck. "Gadd had-to teach me how to use it myself." Luigi tells Hatty before he points to the swaying double doors and slowly goes towards it, hoping to not make a peep.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah! Thank you, Mr. Luigi. Helps quite a bit to know how to utilize that... let's watch where we're stepping in here. The meat freezer is where most of the accidents aboard the ship have ever happened." He gulped thickly before pushing through the swinging doors. Hanging on the hooks were skeletal remains of sides of beef that were petrified and luckily not at the stage where they smelled. They were basically mummified shells of meat remains that swayed stiffly. "Eugh... good lord..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt a shiver once entering into the meat freezer after adhering to the warning, having his breath visible from the intense cold. Luckily the freezer was still working after all these years as he looked around in the darkness with the source of light in his hand. "<em>G-g-gee... Wh-where are th-they h-hiding now..?</em>" The green lad chatters under his breath while walking through the large, hanging meat. Boy, there's a lot of them, which makes it hard to navigate inside.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty squinted and trained his flashlight around the room, looking up to the corners for any signs of life... or unlife, as the case may be. Slowly, the two ventured further into the freezer, minding their footing over the icy floor. Ages of neglect left a thick sheet of ice to coat the tiles. "I don't know... l-let's keep close together, so as to not get separated." The ambience of the freezer fan running filled the room apart from the distant cackling of Boos and the eerie moans of the dead. Suddenly, there was a <em> deafening </em> bang that broke the silence. One of the carcasses fell from the hook and landed to the floor behind them. Scary, but not threatening... that was until the thing suddenly rose up onto its feet with a stifled moo. "<em>... oh, dear God.</em>" "<b><em>Mrrroouuh..!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>The mummified corpse of a cow suddenly shambled after them, its lopped limbs trying to whack at either of them with desperate intent, as though the beast was still trapped within and attempting to escape a fate it has already met.</p><p> </p><p>It didn't take much for Luigi to get spooked from a loud noise from behind, which made him jump and turn around in a flash to see what made that noise... He yelps at the sight of the carcass rising up and backs away, hoping for it to not attack him nor Hatty while having the quivering fear. "<em>P-please n-n-nooo...</em>" He kept backing up until he couldn't go any farther, which was against the farthest from the freezer doors. He hopes that no one would come behind him this time, but luck would have it, that wasn't a smart move...</p><p> </p><p>Using the stunning strobulb, Hatty got the corpse to freeze before turning the vacuum on, drawing the bovine carcass into the tank. As he was focused on fighting this abomination, Luigi could hear rattling before a food dolly came flying out, stacked up high with food.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I told you two that there would be a main course to this appetizer! Hope you like beef, because there's plenty! But that's not all!</em>" Gordon whistled loudly, and the throaty eating sounds stopped before a massive shadow came looming to the door. <em> Oh-no. </em></p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing the food dolly coming right at Luigi, he yelps loudly and rushes out of the way, crashing into the frozen wall that made him slip and fall flat to the floor. Luigi turns to his side with his big nose in pain, he sucks up the food that's falling unto him, but it was a little much and has the food piled on him, getting him trapped. "<em>H-Hatty... H-help...</em>" being trapped like this sets off his claustrophobia and panics, struggling to get free.</p><p> </p><p>Following the struggle of sucking up the living corpse, Hatty was met by the snarling mug of Gordon who hurled a <em> massive </em> whole pumpkin directly at him, knocking him to the ground. Dazed with a small groan, the two could feel themselves almost powerless when Fargus floated through the door with a hungry moan.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Gordon! I'm as hungry as ever! Where's my food!?</em>" "<em>I have two </em> <b> <em>very</em> </b> <em> special appetizers here, just for you!</em>" "<em>Ouh, good~!</em>" He drooled, staring over Luigi in the food pile first. Shaking the stars from his head, the captain saw Fargus ready to gulp Luigi down his greedy gullet, eager to chow him down.</p><p> </p><p>"Luigi, <b>no</b> !!" Clutching his vacuum head, he trained it onto the lard ass and managed to suck up his tail. With a small gasp, the obese specter started to fly in circles, causing Hatty to become <em> airborne </em> and threw him about in circles. "<em>Let go of me!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>It takes a bit for Luigi to struggle out from under the food pile and pops his head out from the top of the pile, though his clothing and face is pretty much covered in juices. At least it was mainly fruits and vegetables, so it wasn't that bad - just he'll get sticky later on if he doesn't get himself rinsed off and soon.</p><p>While seeing that Hatty was busy with Fargus that came in the kitchen, he focuses more on both Gordon and Chef and unleashes a bright flashing at them to stun them again while wrestling on getting himself out. "<em>Th-this time, Y-you're not g-getting away!</em>" As the two were stunned, he was barely able to reach the two with the vacuum to try to get both at the same time- which their resistance helps yank Luigi out from the pile quite easily and this time, he gives all his might to suck them up completely. "<b>WWOAHH!!</b>" The frozen floor isn't making it any easier as green lad slides all around the freezer while holding onto his hat to keep it from flying off his head.</p><p>After some time, he was able to capture at least Chef, but Gordon was still able to break free from the suction- making Luigi face plant onto the floor slides all the way to the back of the freezer. "OOF! Owie..." He sits up and shakes his head, as the rush of bitter cold strikes his body and shivers as he charges up his light once more to defend himself.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was struggling to capture Fargus, but Gordon already had him pegged. "<em>How's about a little Devil's food to send these two down to Hell?!</em>" He jeered out as he <em> flung </em> a large slice of cake to the engorged spirit's drooling, eager maw, watching it vanish down his throat before he seemed to regain health and resistance. Shaking his tail harshly, Hatty was flung and went <em> spinning </em> in that direction, crashing into a bussing station before the fat fingers plucked him up. "<em>Haha..~ now </em> <b> <em>this</em> </b> <em> is a morsel alright!</em>" With a wide smirk, the lard ass's maw opened wide up and took Hatty's upper half into his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>However, trying to swallow him, Hatty <em> knew </em> he couldn't let that happen! Trying to flash the strobulb only proved to be useless. Instead, he took the hose end and flipped it, wedging himself in the phantom's throat. With a panicked gag, the bloated fiend gripped his neck and tried to pull Hatty back out, feeling himself being choked. One downside to being a spirit that can still eat: you can choke. "<em>Luigi, hurry!! I can't keep this thing straight for much longer! It's stinky and slimy in here..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing that Hatty's in trouble and Gordon feeding Fargus, Luigi tries to get up but the floor was slippery, which made him slide all around. He needed to take Gordon out before getting to the more chunkier ghost, since he'll keep Fargus from being captured. The green plumber releases his flash charge at Gordon while he is distracted by Fargus, which makes him vulnerable to getting stunned and tries to suck him up one last time. "<b><em>WOAwwhhh!!</em> </b> I g-got you n-now!"</p><p>Of course, it's like being pulled from his ghost pooch with his leash on a winter's day on ice, though he remembers a maneuver while in the hotel - once getting enough tension resistance, he pulls back and slams Gordon onto the floor, to knock him around to help suck him up finally.</p><p>Once he is finally finished with Gordon, Luigi doesn't hesitate to help Hatty on Fargus. "<em>I-I'm c-c-coming!</em>" The bitter cold is starting to seep through Luigi's clothing as small ice crystals and icicles start to form on his mustache as well as his big nose as he flashes with a full bright flash Fargus as the ghost is distracted, hoping it would work on him.</p><p> </p><p>With Gordon angrily swearing as he was trapped within the device aboard Luigi's shoulders, Hatty was still struggling to keep himself locked in Fargus' throat lest he end up in the belly of the beast. As the lardasstic man was trying not to choke to death <em> again </em> on his captain, he felt a tugging on his tail before he was yanked backwards and hoisted up in the air. He was quite a weight, and one <em> good </em> ground slam dislodged and <em> saved </em> Hatty from a terrible fate. Slicked up, the man skid across the icy floors with a shiver. Being wet and dribbling he was already beginning to freeze.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>No, I don't wanna go in yet! I'm still hungryyyyy..!</em>" Crying out, Fargus was sucked up into the machine before going through <em> quite </em> the squeeze. Hatty pulled himself off of the ground and swiftly pulled Luigi to his hip, rushing out from the freezer and into the much warmer kitchen. Shivering and shaking, the two men were nearly turned into popsicles! Poor things...</p><p> </p><p>Luigi couldn't help but shiver as he almost lost consciousness from being in the cold for that long, though he was much closer to the freezer fans that blew onto him while he was in the back. Feeling weak and tired, Luigi collapsed onto the floor after Hatty helped him out of the cold with his body shaking in hopes to get himself warm again. "<em>C-c-c-coolldd....</em>"</p><p>It was unusual for the green plumber to get <em> this </em> cold, since he's been in winter environments before without any extra layers of clothing on and not had any sort of problem- but this time, the freezer was a bit too much for his body to handle. "<em>Th-thank you... f-f-for getting us o-o-out of there...</em>" Luigi sputters out, as his breathing gets a little heavy. Looks like he needed to get to a heat source and <em> fast </em>.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the poor man's nose so rosy from the bitter cold and face turning blue from the coldness. He made a rushed effort and turned on the oven. Thank goodness it was still on. Turning it up to the broiling temperature, he opened the hatch and sat Luigi opposite of the open door to get him warmed up. "It'll be alright... I'll try to get you as warm as I possibly can."</p><p> </p><p>During that time he drifted in and out of consciousness thanks to not having enough heat circulating within. But, it didn't take long for Luigi to warm up from the heat, which also benefited Hatty as well to get himself warmed up. His bluish cold face turned back to pinkish color after a few minutes and regained his consciousness fully. "<em>Ugh... wh-what happened..?</em>" He whispers as he opens his eyes and looks around, noticing that Hatty was sitting next to him to help warm each other up from the heat blowing onto them.</p><p> </p><p>"You blanked out... you nearly froze in the freezer there, but you did an amazing job with tackling those two specters, hero." Hatty smiled, showing his chipped tooth that gave his grin such a vivid personality. "Why don't we head to E. Gadd? I'm sure these poltergusts are getting pretty full. Are you well enough to walk?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks up to Hatty and gives a thumbs up with a soft smile before he tries to get up from his spot. At least some of his energy had come back to him but how quick he stood up, gave him a dizzy spell- in which he fell back to the floor on his butt and held his head. "Aye... Mama mia... Shouldn't-a have stood up that quickly." He softly spoke.</p><p>After a minute, the dizzy spell had gone away and tried to stand up again, this time more slowly and lent a hand for Hatty to help him up. "Thank you for rescuing me from the freezer. I typically could handle the cold like-a that, but not this time..." He pondered that question in his head as he pulled Hatty up from the floor. His recovery from being frozen is <em> astonishing </em>, though the oven heat blasting on the two did help a lot in the process.</p><p> </p><p>Catching the other at the shoulders to make sure he didn't strike his head, Hatty was being the part of a good friend and ensuring Luigi didn't get hurt any further. Assisting the dizzy plumber up, he patted the other man's back with a smile. "It's my pleasure to help! You need the help and I'm not going to abandon a friend. I'm a bit more used to the heat, having grown up in a mountainous part of France. Gets frightfully cold..." Funny how he didn't have much of a French accent, but going all over the world dulled one's accent quite a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"We should head back to E. Gadd to empty these doohickies... <em> and </em> get you better healed. I'm sure Ms. Boocille is worried sick about us as well."</p><p> </p><p>"Good idea!" With a smile, both Hatty and Luigi get to leave the kitchen, after the spectral gates had lifted just a bit ago.</p><p> </p><p>Even though the coast is clear and <em> somehow </em>, the lights in both the kitchen and the mess hall are light up a little bit better, doesn't mean that there's no boos hiding somewhere in both rooms- since Luigi hears a maniac laughter of am evil boo hiding somewhere within the mess hall and gets frightened.</p><p>The green lad tries to continue on, since he knows that they don't come out unless he disturbs where they're hiding. "<em>L-let's continue on...</em>" He quietly spoke to Hatty, as they sneaked through the mess hall and did not want to disturb <em> anything </em> in the room.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty heard the maniacal cackling as well, turning his head at hearing the high-pitched bubbly chortles rattling nearly every nail in the timbers of the rotted walls. "Stick close to me... if something comes our way, I'll be the first to suck it up. Your machine's a bit more full than mine. Looks like you sucked up an entire wedding buffet into there."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi timidly chuckles while nodding in agreement, trying to suck in his little chubby gut to get through the tables and chairs- since they're all scattered around in the whole mess hall and no easy path to the doors that leads to the hallways.</p><p>Their poltergusts aren't much help either, since they keep knocking the tables and chairs slightly around and the green lad hopes that the boo doesn't show its face at them unannounced.</p><p>While the two were getting close to the doors, one <em> slight </em> nudge from one of the tables from Luigi's poltergust had revealed the boo's location, which came out of its hiding and jump scares the green lad. "<em>RAWR!! Looks like you found the Booicious! I'll devour you we-- </em> " The boo realizes that the green-clothed plumber wasn't alone and Hatty wasn't a ghost anymore - which isn't as afraid compared to Luigi. "<em>Uh oh...</em>" The boo does hesitate to vanish and run off, hoping to not get caught from the two.</p><p> </p><p>Jumping slightly at hearing the Boo, Hatty scowled and attempted to flash at the spirit... but it flew off much too quickly before he could get much further with his charged attack. Instead, all he got were dots in his vision. "<em>Ack</em>! Drat..!" He moaned out, rubbing his eyes with a stiff moan. "Slimy bugger got away. Surely it'll come back around. Darn tables and desks driving me looney... if I'm to be fortunate enough to repair my ship, <em> far </em> less chairs and tables. Are you alright, Luigi? Didn't scare you too bad, did it?"</p><p> </p><p>Once the Boo ran away, Luigi had a frightened look on his face while holding his chest and panting a bit, having his mustache frayed before straightening it out and taking a deep breath to calm himself. "<em>M-m-maammiiiiiaaa...</em>" Shaking his head, he turns on the darklight that looks like a tiny aurora borealis coming from his light bulb, to see if the boo is still hiding inside the room around himself and Hatty... But the boo probably ran off somewhere else on the ship instead and turned off the darklight with a sigh of relief. "I-I'll be okay." He points out, as they both get to the doors and finally leave the mess hall to get back to Gadd down in the loading dock.</p><p> </p><p>"Let's hurry down. If that bloody bastard of a ghost saw us, it'll likely come back with <em> its </em> friends." He frowned as he said that, high-tailing it down into the loading dock.</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>After Booicious had successfully escaped, the boo had made it back to King Boo and Lord Maya to inform them of what had occurred just recently. "<em>K-King B-Boo... L-Lord Maya... I have some worrying news...</em>" The boo says as he floats through the walls to get to them.</p><p> </p><p>As the news was leaked about the mustachio'd plumber having freed Hatty, it brought <em> great </em> displeasure to the two rulers... however, it was just <em> two </em> of those rubes. What could <em> two </em> possibly do to topple an army? Perhaps just send a few tougher spirits after them to weaken them up before throwing them both to the wolves..~ that would be easy!</p><p> </p><p>King Boo huffed in displeasure, slamming his little mitts down against the ground. "<b><em>CURSES</em></b> <em>TO THAT DAMNABLE PLUMBER!! He's fworted me once, and I shall </em><b><em>not</em></b><em> see another humiliating defeat at that mongrel's hands! Who </em><b><em>else</em></b><em> do we have at our disposal, as we shouldn't make it so </em><b><em>easy</em></b><em>. He merely got the irresponsible captain... with that chip-toothed moron, those two would probably both drown on dry land. It's two idiots with surprising potential... ... ooh~, what of the </em><b><em>delicious</em></b><em> irony of his life being ended by his own </em><b><em>beloved</em></b><em> brother? A little sibling rivalry to get things spiced up? What say you, Lord Maya? Shall we end family ties~?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Maya likes King Boo's idea with a big grin on his face. "<em>Yess, it'll be a perfect idea for Luigi to fight his own twin brother...</em>" He laughs maniacally as he flies over to the Mario portrait with a sickening grin on his face.</p><p>Though while in front of the painting and staring at it for a moment, starts to wonder. "<em>Hmm... If Luigi had freed the captain and turned him back to how he was before, it must be that they've found that extractor device and reversed its functionality.</em>" He muttered, as he figured what's going on. " <em> But, we know that Luigi is not bright on that kind of technology, so who would have been able to reverse it..?</em>" The Lord ponders on the question as he looks back to King Boo.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ohohoho~! There's an old man trapped within a painting... that moron wouldn't be able to save much else aside from that whelp of a captain. He's the weakest link... stronger spirits need a mightier device, and that lanky little twit doesn't have the capacity to make such a device! That old coot is trapped within the hull of the dead ship, so that idiot is likely going to urge the former captain and himself into a slow, painful starving death! Kra-hahahaha~!</em> " King Boo chuckled out, the thought of the two turning skeletal and weak before their painful demise filling him with <em> glee </em> . "<em>... however..~ we shouldn't play with our food. Let's use </em> <b> <em>both</em> </b> <em> brothers against them! Nothing stings more than poking where it </em> <b> <em>hurts</em></b><em>.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Lord Maya glares at King Boo for what he just heard from him. "<em>You do realize what you just said... If Luigi was able to find that device, somehow reversed its functionality, and you're saying an old man probably knows about that kind of tech...</em>" He floats back to King Boo and flies around him. "<em>Luigi must have freed the old man as well, from your silly paintings... Heh heh...</em>" He tells the King before flying back to the Mario Painting and flies straight into it, as he finds a way <em> deep </em> within the painting to yank out what he needs before coming back out with <em> someone </em> in tow.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Not like we don't have an ace up our sleeve that can't stop such meddling, if that </em> <b> <em>is</em> </b> <em> the case. See how that green numbskull keeps up his facade when he has to battle his own flesh and blood! Hehehe..~ he'll be swimming back to shore, crying for his Mommy! And the old fool... his bones are as brittle as chalk. He likely wouldn't survive another toss into a frame, for sure. So there's </em> <b> <em>one</em> </b> <em> good thing! Oooh..~ let me see what you can do to this red capped little miscreant. I'd love to see how you can </em> <b> <em>bastardize</em> </b> <em> the "hero" of the Mushroom Kingdom. That frilly froo-froo place has had it too good for too long... I want to see what would happen when those happy Toads are crushed under the feet of their protector.</em>" He chuckled with his tongue lulling between two sharp teeth to either corner of his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>After getting what Maya wanted out of the painting, he laughs with an evil tone as Reginald comes through the walls with an evil smirk. "<em>Well well, looks like I'll have my own partner alongside to fight against my own dumb brother of mine.</em>" He chuckles as he crosses his arms.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ahahah~! Oh, Maya, you gorgeous genius you! Both of you will be in charge of impeding the two's progress however you see fit! Toy with them, torture them as you both may wish..~</em>" King Boo began, seeing Mario being formed into a more <em> aggressive </em> looking version of himself. "<em>... but know </em> <b> <em>this</em></b><em>. Failure is absolutely </em> <b> <em>not</em> </b> <em> an option. Fail, and I will not stop Lord Maya from making you sorry you ever came back to us.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>As you wish, my Lord and King~</em>" Reginald bows to both Maya and King Boo before bringing the ghost of Mario with him through the walls.</p><p>Seeing both Mario and Reginald leave, Maya looks back at the painting, where the image of Mario is still on it. "<em>At least this time, even if Luigi rescues Mario from this painting, it'll be a </em> <b> <em>big</em> </b> <em> surprise for him... Since, he won't be... </em> <b> <em>Alive</em> </b> <em> ~</em>" Laughing, he thinks of a plan to place the painting somewhere in the ship, so that Luigi would find it before his brother's ghost.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Aahhahaha~... oh, such a devilishly delightful plan there! When he thinks he's going his little trinket, all he gets is the hollowed body of that pesky little plumber. As useless as the waste he flushes from the castles, the precious Mario is now just muck for the worms in the pipes to devour. A splitting of body and soul... absolutely </em> <b> <em>brilliant</em> </b> <em> ! That little Neanderthal will be too heartbroken to even comprehend his brother's spirit is laden against them now, to do battle against them. I would </em> <b> <em>love</em> </b> <em> to see them try to fix such a split! </em> <b> <em>Impossible</em> </b> <em> I must say! Ha!</em>"</p><p><br/>However, the split of the body and soul was a <em> violation </em> of the balance. The teetering weights between life and death wobbled, which spun parts of the world into catastrophe. A butterfly effect, for lack of a better term, and the eyes of Death <em> burned </em> with anger at feeling the unjust change. "<em>... that impotent bastard is truly wearing my patience thin.</em>" Dark claws swirled into a pool of fire, watching it spin open to an image of what had happened. "<em>... I truly hope that old fool shall have a remedy for this. My very tinkerings in the world of the living might just topple balance completely over. I don't want to cause the apocalypse... </em> <b> <em>yet</em></b>."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Recalling Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Luigi and Hatty got to the loading dock, they were greeted by the old man, working away at his computer with Boocille squealing happily. "<em>Mr. Plumber! Captain guy! You're back! I was starting to get worried. Are you both okay? How was everything? ... Luigi... you're hurt!! Dr. Gadd! Luigi's been injured, what do we do?!</em>" Sweet ghost worried herself too much, she was getting up into a frenzy.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi Felt pain as he got to the loading dock and into Gadd's boat, since his side is still radiating pain up through his spine while feeling a little sticky, thanks to the juices from the fruits and vegetables. "<em>I-I've been through w-worse pain...</em>" Luigi hissed as she tells Boocille, as Gadd hops off the chair tries to tend to the wound with one of his new inventions that hopes to heal wounds in a snap. "Oh, no no, this won't do!" While Gadd was helping to heal up Luigi, he heard a <em> crunch </em> , which made Luigi jump. "<b><em>AAAIIEEE!!!</em></b>" That scare made the pain in his side <em> much </em> worse. "Owie... That smarts..." "Well, you shouldn't have jumped when I tried to patch you up." Gadd laughs as he finishes up. "There, good as new~" The professor lets Luigi know, as the pain disappears completely. "Th-thanks, Doc..." Luigi chuckles a bit.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing that noise made Hatty's gut drop, thinking something <em> awful </em> just happened, but sighed in relief that Luigi was okay now. "Gordon was throwing knives about and poor Luigi got nicked badly. I tried to patch him up as best as I could, but I'm not a registered nurse by <em> any </em> means." He scratched the back of his head, a touch embarrassed by the now seemingly half assed job of patching the verde clad hero up he did.</p><p> </p><p>"We did however manage to wrangle up three ghosts: Fargus, Gordon and Chef. They turned Fargus into this obese, quivering, gluttonous mass instead of the sweet, gentle jolly man we all knew." The extent of parodization that Lord Maya and King Boo were capable of now was <em> alarming </em> at this point. "<em>Gosh... I'm glad you two are mostly alright, though both of you may need clean clothes. You look awfully sticky.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, wish I was able to pack up an extra set of clothes." Luigi sighs, while Gadd goes back to his chair. "Don't worry, I got a solution for that!" Gad tells Boocille as he pulls a lever. Once Luigi looks up, he notices what Gadd was talking about. Surprise! "<em> ACK!! </em>" A tub full of salt water dumps onto both Hatty and Luigi, soaking them both to help clean their stickiness off of them. Luigi tried to cover his face with his arm, but most of his body got soaked instead. "Th-thanks..." Luigi shakes the excess of water off of him to get himself dried a little better. Of course, Gadd couldn't help but laugh a bit when Luigi and Hatty were soaked.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty's eyes went wide, showing the dual colored eyes that splashed onto him before his suit became heavy and sodden with a wet cat appearance on his face. Shaking his head and gripping the bottom of his coat, he rang out the tail before taking off one of his shoes, dumping it out before doing the same to the other. "Thank you, doctor." Luckily, he had hair to become thick or damp with water. "Better than being covered in sticky, smelly pumpkin guts." "<em> Oh gosh, are you two okay? </em>" "Yep, better than attracting flies or bugs. Is there a dryer option attached to that thingy?"</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi was wringing out his hat, "Comin' right up!" Gadd reverses the lever, making a large blow dryer come down and blows the two out of the boat, since it was a little bit too powerful. Luigi tries to hold onto his hat after trying to hold his ground, but slips and flies out. "<b><em>WWOOAAHHH!!</em></b>" Well, at least that dried off the green plumber and the captain off completely before Luigi gets up and walks back inside the boat. </p><p> </p><p>Hatty's face was blown back, making him look like someone hitched tape to his face and pulled back taut before his feet lifted the ground. Flapping his arms frantically, he only got a few inches forward in the air before flying back and tumbling over his sides with air-knocked grunts before coming to a rest. "<em>BRRBRRBRBR-</em>" Shaking his head, he pulled himself up, adjusting his suit and plucking out a <em> serious </em> tumble-induced wedgie. "Haven't had my knickers irked up so high since I dealt with my middle school bully."</p><p> </p><p>"Mama mia, any other surprises, Professor..?" Gadd couldn't help himself and laughed hysterically seeing the two fly out after the large air dryer retracted back to its original spot. "There's no other surprises, Luigi~ Just empty your poltergust so we can free the ones you've captured so far." Luigi nods as he goes to the ghost vault, attached the vacuum nozzle in it and empties the ghosts into it. Once doing so, the three ghosts were captured had traveled into the ghost containment vault, then immediately to the extractor device. The device activates once it detects the ghosts of the crew mates inside and ejects them out in their normal, living forms.</p><p> </p><p>Putting the device into the extractor, he watched as the machine did its job... First, the <em> large </em> man plopped out. A <em> rather </em> handsome, if not big boned fella who plopped out confusedly, wobbling into the world. " <em> Whaha..? </em> W-what happened? Ugh... I feel so terribly bloated... ... where am I? ... c-captain Hatty? What's going on?" "Oh, Fargustus!" Hatty rushed over and hugged the plump man with a relieved sigh. "It's so good to see you in the flesh!" "It... it's good to see you, too, friend. But... what's going on? Where are we? This ship looks ready to fall to pieces." "... it's a long story. Let's wait until Gordon and Chef get out?" "... get out?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smiles to see Hatty hug Fargus, as Gordon and Chef come out as well, one by one. "Aww..." Retracting the hose into his poltergust and putting it away, he walks over to Hatty and Fargus and waves to him. "Hi! I'm Luigi, nice to meet you!" He lends out a hand to shake, but instead, Fargus grabs Luigi and hugs him tight... Oh dear. "GACK!!"</p><p> </p><p> "Thank you, Mr. Luigi! I... I remember seeing you... my memory's foggy, but... but you kept me from doing something <em> awful </em> to one of my best friends! ... it's all coming back, and seeing your face, I..." "Fargus, Fargus! Please, easy..! You're going to break him into two!" Hatty patted the man's chubby arm, prompting him to release Luigi before he could run out of air. "It's okay... you weren't <em> yourself </em> . You were under the influence of two <em> awful </em> deities."</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the machine whirred and spurred out plumes of white smoke, and the two chefs <em> crawled </em> from the machine. Both were dizzy and disoriented. "<em>Nuuugh... w-what happened?</em>" "<em>Feels like when we found out what happens when you eat that worm at the bottom of the bottle of tequila...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After landing on the floor, Luigi gasps for breath a bit before taking a deep sigh as he gets control of his breathing again. "Y-yeah, at least we're getting to you all back~" The green plumber puts his thumb up and winks as he notices Gordon and Chef come out. "Hey hey!" Boy, Luigi feels jolly when he sees the crew mates come back to the world of the living. "Good, the extractor is working as intended~" The professor mutters as he pushes a button to put the device away for safekeeping. "Anyway, I'm Elvin Gadd and welcome to my laboratory... Or what's left of it, that is." He introduces to Chef, Gordon and Fargus.</p><p> </p><p>Gordon and Chef carefully pulled themselves up and looked to the two, seeing the plumber and Hatty. "Hello, Mr. Luigi... oh... Hatty!" The two gasped before going in and more gently hugging the two. "... this is the <em> ship </em> , isn't it? I remember it." Chef spoke up, looking around. "When I came here as a teen for my internship on the ship, under Gordon's wing." "... sadly... it's <em> my </em> fault that we ended up like this. Everyone has been turned into a ghost, and this poor man's family has been taken captive by a ghostly king and an evil demon lord, but we're going to get <em> everyone </em> out." "Oh... Hatty. How could it be <em> your </em> fault? This was just a tragic accident! You mustn't blame yourself... you wanted treasure, adventure and fun! Your bold move was just... pulled towards an unfortunate trap. But we <em> refuse </em> to let you do this alone! Why don't we make you all a <em> wonderful </em> thank-you meal?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi scratches the side of his head, seeing how the crew mates are happy to see the captain... Though it made the plumber feel so outside of the loop and sighs heavily with a sad look on his face- since recalling all the adventures that his slightly older brother had gone to and left out for most of them. But when Gordon said a 'thank you meal', his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and had a bright smile on his face. "That'll be great!" He piped up, as his stomach started to growl a bit.</p><p>Such a surprise, Polterpup decides to show up and pop through the walls and yips at everyone with a playful intention, making Luigi jump a bit. Though, Polterpup was holding a key in its mouth and went over to the plumber and gave the key to him. "Ahh, thank you, Polterpup~" Polterpup yips happily while wagging his tail as Luigi pets him happily.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty looked over, at this being the <em> first time </em> he's seen the spectral pooch. "<em>Oooh~! </em> What a cutie! Ooh, you have a ghostly puppy? What an <em> adorable </em> little thing!" He dropped down, holding a hand out to let the pup sniff him. "You have a ghost dog, sir?" Chef's eyes lit up, coming closer. "That's <em> amazing </em> ! You have a ghost that's so faithful to you..~ that's <em> incredible </em>! How did you meet such an adorable little spooky puppy?"</p><p> </p><p>So much for being out of the loop, the loop pulled him right into the center!</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, I have a ghost puppy~ Heh heh..." Luigi smiles, "I've met my little Polterpup on my second adventure, while trying to piece together the dark moon that shattered, making the ghosts nearby hostile." The plumber tells the little story as he looks over to Boocille. "How are you feeling, Boocille? Any better?" Luigi asks her while the crew mates pet Polterpup. Boy, Polterpup gets <em> all </em> the love and pets from the crew mates, since he's happy that they're free.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Indeed, I am!</em>" She floated up and showed herself to the group, with Fargustus, Gordon and Chef suddenly <em> shrieking </em> in terror. "<em>WAAAHH!! A GHOST!</em>" "<em>PLEASE DON'T HURT US!</em>" "Hey, hey, hey, careful! She isn't dangerous! She's a <em> nice </em> ghost." Boocille covered her mouth and doubled back, tail tucked with her cheeks turning red and eyes watering. "<em>... I... I-I'm not bad, I...</em>" She audibly quivered, hiccupping out. "... oh, deary!" Hatty went over and rested a hand on her round side. "It's okay... you haven't done anything wrong, they're just a bit skittish and jumpy. It's okay."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt bad how Chef and Gordon reacted to her, but he grabbed Boocille and pulled her into a hug with a smile. "Don't you worry, at least I'm-a here for you." Without warning, Boocille vanishes while he hugs her; which gets him to wonder where she went off to this time. He hopes that she didn't run off from what Gordon and Chef did and has a worried expression on his face.</p><p> </p><p>In the meantime, Gordon and Chef wanted to get back to the kitchen and the mess hall, but Hatty and Gadd warned the two that it wasn't safe to get back there at this time, so Hatty had-to leave to check if the coast is clear, but Luigi follows Hatty with and comes alongside. "H-hey, Mr. Hatty, do you know where this key goes to?" Luigi shows the key that Polterpup gave him.</p><p> </p><p>The two chefs felt awfully bad, and watched as the spirit seemed to <em> melt </em> into Luigi, looking to each other with guilt-ridden glances. "... we're sorry that we acted so scared towards her. We... w-we just got turned <em> back </em> from being ghosts, and we remember how the ship was stormed..." Boocille's little whimpers were heard <em> inside </em> of Luigi instead of around him, no one else could hear her whimpering.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his head both ways in the halls, he nodded and signaled that the coast was clear. Pausing, he looked to the key and scratched his chin. "Hmm... oh! This is to the storage room. This is... this could actually help us. Dr. Gadd needs supplies, right? There might be something in there to help our cause."</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm... Would be a good idea. Lead the way." The plumber smiles while following the captain. to the storage room, since he doesn't know where <em> any </em> room is at. While traveling to the storage room, Luigi could hear Boocille whimpering within himself, realizing where she really went to. .oO( <em> Are you okay, Boocille? </em> ) He thoughtfully asks, since he didn't want Hatty to know where she truly is at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Taking the key and giving the ghostly pup a good pet on the head, Hatty led the way to the closet with the flashlight shining the way. All the while, Boocille was audibly quivering within the green plumber's psyche. .oO( <em> I didn't mean to scare them..! I... I'm not a bad ghost... they shouldn't be afraid of me. I-I'd never..! ... I don't want people to be scared, I don't want to never make friends. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Maybe they're not used-to seeing ghosts, unlike me... </em> ) He thought about it a bit. .oO( <em> Though don't worry, they'll warm up to you, after they get to know you better. </em> ) Luigi replies to Boocille, putting his hand on his chest in hopes to calm her down... Though Hatty saw that movement and probably thought something was wrong... Oops.</p><p> </p><p>Glancing about, Hatty did a double take back to Luigi, assuming something was wrong. "What's wrong? Is there something near us?" Flashing the flashlight around, he was frantic in his search, looking high and low for any signs of evil doers on their way to try and snub the two out. Might need to explain <em> this </em>...</p><p> </p><p>Luigi snaps out of his thoughts as looks up to Hatty with a bashful look on his face. "H-heh heh... Sorry, was talking to Boocille." He lets Hatty know, "She's... In <em> here </em>." He gently pats his own chest to let the captain know where she's really at. "I've been trying to help her relax and calm down after what happened in Gadd's lab."</p><p> </p><p>"... oh! Oh, gosh... well... let her know that I'm sorry about their behavior. I can't <em> make </em> them not be afraid... considering the displaced feeling they must be going through right now. Not many are as blindly, stumblingly brave as I am where I would throw myself into the midst of a chaotic situation without a second thought." He shrugged, rubbing a hand against his brow to clear a bit of dust stuck to him now. "So long as we're not in <em> immediate </em> peril."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods with a smile, as they continue on to the supply room. .oO( <em> The captain has let me know that he's sorry for their behavior... </em> ) He relays the information to her, just as he says one of the ghosts of the crew mates zip on by from one of the intersections, which made the plumber freeze and shiver in fear and senses something coming. A little on edge, he looks around to see if any other ghosts are around. "<em>I-I hope th-there's n-no ghosts coming at us n-now...</em>" The plumber gulps as the two march forward, regardless of the danger lurking ahead.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I'll be sure to let him know I heard that... </em> ) As the two approached the supply closet and a few spirits flitted by, Hatty took the key and was about to unlock the door before the object itself <em> flew </em> from his grasp and opened the door. ... no gate, no noise... it was calm. Stepping further into the room, it was <em> very </em> cold for sure. There was <em> something </em> in here.</p><p> </p><p>As the two came into the room, the doors <em> slammed </em> behind them, key still in the lock. It was turned, and they were trapped in the closet! Trapped within, there was the small glint of metal that <em> flew </em> towards them, and Hatty acted fast and pushed Luigi to the ground. "<em>GET DOWN!!</em>" He cried, being struck by <em> kunai </em> ! The spiritual things swiftly turned into <em> tiny </em> Boos that began to chomp and maul the captain, causing him to try to rip them off like engorged ticks. "<em>Ow ow ow ow get off of me!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em> OOF! </em> " After being shoved out of the way, Luigi felt so scared, but he heard that Hatty was in trouble and turned the darklight on the tiny boos to get them to become visible and dizzy enough to get vulnerable to suck up. " <em> N-not this t-time..! </em>" After seeing the tiny boos vulnerable, he turns on the vacuum nozzle and sucks them all up.</p><p>Though while Luigi was focused on helping Hatty, the plumber himself was vulnerable from any more attacks, in which it was the perfect timing for more kunais to come at him and get hit from a few of them and get knocked to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>The knives came flying with the pesky Boos that continued after them before the duo forced themselves to the ground to take cover. "<em>Hrrahahahaha~!! Hiding will only prolong the inevitable!</em>" "... that voice, I remember it! ... <em> oh, shite. It's Kazu. He's a ninja.</em>" Ninja. That wasn't good. An impoverished man turned assassin of abusive hierarchs that took all of their land and crops, they are masters of stealth and elusion, as well as coming in for the silent kill. And such, he was <em> invisible </em>! He was heard leaping across walls, only leaving small dust clouds from where he was last perched on the neglected wood.</p><p> </p><p>Getting the Boos off of Luigi and sucking them into the machine, Hatty urged Luigi to crawl forward. "<em> Hurry, hurry! We can't stay in one spot, he'll find us faster..! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods quietly after thanking him for helping, as he crawls around the supply room and in the darkness, keeping his light off to sneak around. It comes to thinking, <em> the darklight! </em> The plumber looks back to Hatty and points to his own light as he turns on the darklight to look where Kazu went off to and silently lets Hatty do the same. Though, Luigi's darklight lasts infinitely without any problem while Hatty's had a limited moment to use it before it overheats.</p><p> </p><p>Shining the darklight about, there were hand and footprints on the walls of a crouched human. Hands and feet stretched across the walls in a frog-like jumping pattern, from wall to wall, and even clinging to the ceiling without trouble. Kazu's spirit was far more restless and <em> harder </em> to pinpoint where it was going to go next. Hatty kept his at the ready in case he needed to use it, knowing that he would run out and go hot, leaving him without a light.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Catch me if you can~!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi has his darklight going, he tries to keep tabs of where Kazu is going, trying to find a pattern of where the spirit would go next. But since the darklight is making it harder to get him, he shuts it off to let the room go completely dark - even though he <em> hates </em> being in the dark as his body shivers and teeth chatter quietly while walking in the dark.</p><p>It didn't take long to sense danger from behind as the green lad turned around and discharged the bright light in hopes to catch Kazu off-guard and stun him.</p><p> </p><p>There was an issue now... Kazu had a <em> band </em> over his eyes! It glowed in return, and kept him from being stunned! With that, he rose up a large bokken, thwarting Luigi across the temple with it before kicking Hatty square in the chest. The captain was left in a scream without a voice, his air completely knocked out with his body struggling for air following that gasp.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hahaha~! Like mice to the cat's cradle..~ killing you both off will be far too easy!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Unknowingly, getting hit on his head gets Luigi knocked to the floor and feels his head pound from the blow. Dizzy and in pain, Luigi had-to think of something and <em> fast </em> before Kazu attacks again. .oO( <em> What do I do..? </em> ) Luigi thinks, since the bright flash of the light didn't work this time as he gets up from off the floor and shakes his head.</p><p>Then, the green lad gets an idea. If he can't beat the ninja, he has-to <em> become </em> one, as he turns off the light completely and requests permission from Boocille to help out in vanishing his body to go into stealth in hopes to jump Kazu right where it hurts - his pride of being a ninja.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Gosh, a ninja! This is like those crazy movies! </em> ) Boocille looked about before nodding, letting Luigi utilize not only her abilities, but <em> activate </em> them! .oO( <em> I don't have the strength to keep this up for too long... so long as I'm within you, I can let you lose your corporeal appearance, but I can't barter you with the ability to sink through objects. You're just see through, so be careful. You can still make noise and be noticed if you rattle around too much... </em> ) Luigi could go invisible for an extended period? That sounded lovely, but the issue was the <em> rule </em> behind that. Balancing, but could also be crippling.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, poor Hatty coughed out, his mind spinning before he felt himself grabbed by the ascot and <em> thrown </em> at Luigi. Land right before the plumber and narrowly missing smashing into him, Hatty groaned out and sputtered, his back aching from being driven into the wooden crates. "<em>Don't you worry, peek-a-boo Luigoo~! I'll find you again!</em>" Uh-oh! Best move quick!</p><p> </p><p>Just as Luigi barely dodged the attack, though with Boocille's permission to utilize her abilities as well as adhering the warnings, his corporeal appearance goes invisible - though his poltergust was still slightly visible to Hatty at least as he starts sneaking around the supply room and being careful to not touch or knock anything around.</p><p>While Luigi was close to Kazu from behind, he gathered the courage and quickly jumped the spirit and latched onto him, grabbing hold and pulling the band off from his eyes as he made himself opaque again. "<em>Mr. Hatty! N-now's y-your chance..!!</em>" Luigi struggles to keep grips onto Kazu, hoping to keep the band from getting put back on the spirit's eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling his flashlight up, he shakily shot the stunning light against Kazu, causing him to be stunned. "<em>H-have at you, then..! Before he-- kff-- does it again..!</em>" Seems it was Hatty's turn to share the hurting. He could hardly see from the tears welling in his eyes, head lulling against the rotted floor with his ears still ringing.</p><p> </p><p>Once Hatty has gotten his grip on Kazu, Luigi falls to the floor and lets Hatty catch the crew mate this time as he gets up and turns on his light again, as well as charging it in case if the ninja has gotten away from Hatty's grasp.</p><p> </p><p>Drawing the stealthy crew mate into the poltergust, he tried to squirm away... but what ninjas lacked that samurais had was <em> mass </em> . And with a good <em> yank</em>, the ninja was gobbled into the machine before Hatty fell back from the pain. His head <em> rang </em> and his vision whited out... seems that he managed to have his head knocked around and fell out from the horrible clonk!</p><p> </p><p>Allowing Luigi his visibility once more, Boocille rushed over to Hatty and held his face. "<em>Mr. Hatty! Mr. Hatty, say something! Uh-oh... he's out cold!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi rushes over to Hatty after hearing the captain go out like a light and tries to help, but when he doesn't wake up, he panics- not knowing what to do to help him wake up. Though, he needed to get him to a safe spot; so he grabs the captain's shoulders to drag him somewhere safe in the supply room- behind large boxes and stays with him until he wakes up... If he ever does again from that hard hit on the back of his head.</p><p>While Luigi and Boocille were hiding and Hatty unconscious, the green plumber and Boocille overheard a couple ghosts flying inside the supply room and talking to each other. Curious, Luigi peaked just slightly of who it was, but quickly goes back into hiding so they don't spot him and covers his mouth to keep himself quiet while quivering a bit, but keeps on listening to the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh heh, it's good to hunt down the blasted plumber, since being next to King Boo and Lord Maya is rough. </em> " One of the spirits tells the other spirit, " <em> At least we have our secret weapon for them, and it'll be a </em> <b> <em>surprise</em> </b> <em> for the green lad~ Ahahahaha!!</em>" The two spirits keep talking, which makes Luigi interested in hearing what's going on. Though their conversation stopped when the two spirits flew away and out of the supply room.</p><p>As Luigi peeks around the boxes again, he doesn't see the two ghosts anymore and wonders where they went off as he waits for Hatty to wake up again.</p><p> </p><p>As the spirits gave away a bit of what was to come with vague intent, Hatty slowly came to once more as the spiritual gates holding the door and keeping the key turned gave way. The double doors opened and the key fell to the ground, ensuring their escape from the closet. "<em>... nuhh...</em>" Moaning dizzily, Hatty woke up with his back on the boxes, head throbbing like crazy. "<em>Owwwwie...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh, he sounds badly hurt... I dunno what those nasty Boos are cooking up, but we should get Hatty out of here.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While sitting next to Hatty, Luigi hears him wake up with a worried expression. "A-Are you okay, Mr. Hatty..?" He gently asks the captain while sitting next to him and pats his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Nngh... my head hurts so bad...</em>" In the darkness, no one but Boocille could see better in the dark. Then, she saw a glimmer running down Hatty's head. " <em> He's bleeding! We need to get him to the doctor! </em>" Floating down, the smaller Boo tried to pick him up, but her tail wriggled and spun uselessly as she couldn't even hoist him up off of a crate.</p><p> </p><p>That's if there's one available... While Luigi worries about Hatty, he hears a ring from his device in his pocket and fishes the GameBoo Advance SP out and opens it up. "Hello?" "<em> Luigi! Is everything alright, my boy? Did you get the supplies I need? </em> " It was Gadd! At least the freed crew mates are behind the camera and wave to Luigi. "<em>Y-yeah, just a r-run in with another ghost of one of the crew and caught him, though th-the captain has been badly injured from the f-fight...</em>" He mutters with a frown, as he points the screen to Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>Chef and Gordon, upon seeing Hatty, knew right where they were. "You're both in the supply closet, right? Don't move, we'll come and help you both down here so you don't have to carry him down." That would also cut down on trips needing to be taken to bring down supplies. A bit of time passed, and Hatty was patched up with a bandage on his head downstairs. A nasty gash and his bell rung was the diagnosis. He would be sore for a bit, but be ready for action once he stopped seeing stars.</p><p> </p><p>Gordon and Chef brought down a few crates worth of supplies down, starting to stack them up along with Fargustus's help with lugging several at once. "I'm sorry that I caused a bit of a stir in the plan..." Hatty apologized as his head continued to ache and throb.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily during that time, no ghosts showed up to hinder their progress of getting downstairs while Luigi helps Hatty get back to Gadd's lab to recover from his injuries - Even though that the green plumber was looking around cautiously to make sure that no one was around.</p><p>Luigi feels happy that the freed crew mates are willing to help out in times of need, even when in dangerous situations to help their fellow captain. "Glad we're able to make it back." "Good! And with their help, I've been able to get a new feature for your poltergusts." Gadd mentions as he gestures both Hatty and Luigi to give their special vacuums for a moment as he works on them even further.</p><p>Of course, Luigi was curious about what Gadd has in store this time, as the professor gets finished and turns back around with the vacuums. "There, finished!" With the new enhancements, there was an extra connection on both of the poltergusts, as if one wasn't enough, <em> both </em> can work together while connected to each other. "With these, when connected to both poltergusts, the power from each other can help each other take down ghosts more easily, when the timing is right." Gadd informs as Luigi takes his G-00 back. "Ahh, good idea, professor!"</p><p> </p><p>"Sounds wonderful, Dr. Gadd." Hatty smiled, though winced, feeling the throbbing in the side of his head. Boocille was making sure Hatty's bandages were firmly in place, lightly patting his back as well. "<em>I'm sorry that you got hurt, Mr. Hatty...</em>" "I've been hurt worse, I think my bell just got a touch rung. I'll be alright after the bleeding stops." "Why don't you lot relax as Chef and I prepare something for you? Might help you feel a bit better as well."</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm, food would help us feel better, and get more productivity done." Gadd replies as he thinks a bit. Though, Luigi felt his belly growl from not eating in a long while. "Y-yeah, a pizza sounds good right about now." The Italian plumber has been craving pizza for a while, as he scratches his belly.</p><p> </p><p>After a little while, Chef and Gordon came back and were able to make a couple extra large pizzas for everyone to share. Though with the supplies they got, Gadd was able to transport the two cooks to the kitchen directly without going through the hallways again thanks to the pixelators connected there. "Oooo, Pizza!" Luigi's eyes lit up as he saw the pizzas and wanted a slice, since he could smell it while being close to them. Though, he had-to be patient as he sat on the floor, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together while everyone in the boat sat around in a circle.</p><p>Everyone had grabbed a slice for themselves and started chowing down, which made the italian plumber felt like he was in <em> heaven </em> from just taking one bite. Of course, Polterpup didn't want to be left out and being a little rascal he is, takes a slice and gulps it in one go.</p><p> </p><p>Chef and Gordon managed to find two pizza stones and a nice pizza oven survived the collapsing of the ship. They seemed quite proud, happy that they found all ingredients to make such a gorgeous set of pies! "Bon appetit!" <em> That </em> was the Gordon they remembered... and with Kazu back to the flesh, he began to recall what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>"... I was a ghost and <em> attacked </em> you?" "I'm sorry such a thing happened to you, Kazu. I caused so much of this grief with my recklessness, but with Luigi as the brave leader of this assault against the dead, we'll take back our ship!"</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi was chowing down on the slice of pizza, he stops mid-bite and looks over to Kazu and Hatty. He smiles and waves to the ninja before continuing on to eat the rest of the pizza. "Yum~ Delicious!" Luigi thanks Gordon and Chef for cooking up the pizzas as Polterpup gets next to his owner and rolls next to him - prompting the plumber to pet him nicely and happily, since the ghost dog is filled from eating the pizza as well.</p><p> </p><p>Munching happily and recuperating after being thrown around like a ragdoll, Hatty glanced over to Boocille, who seemed a bit troubled. "... is something wrong, miss?" "<em>It... it looks so good. But... I don't know if I can </em> <b> <em>eat</em> </b> <em> living people food.</em>" "Have you ever tried?" "<em>... well, no. King Boo always said that it would just go through me.</em>" "Now why would he say that?" "<b><em>Hmph</em></b><em>. Probably so he could have more to stuff his big fat face with.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Boocille, Luigi picks up a slice while wiping off the little bits of extra cheese that smudged onto his mustache and gives it to her. "Here you go, Polterpup is able to eat <em> living </em> food, why don't you try?" The plumber asks while Polterpup barks happily and wags his tail.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down to the slice, she held out her little nubs for hands and was surprised to see that it didn't just flop to the floor! "<em>... wow, it's so warm!</em>" "Careful, you may want to blow it before you bite into it." "<em>Ah, right... it </em> <b> <em>is</em> </b> <em> oven hot, still, huh?</em>" Guess she never ate before, <em> period </em> ! How sad... that awful king was even a scumbag to his own <em> creation</em>. Opening her mouth, she revealed to have rather small yet sharp teeth... looked very cute in a weird way. Chomping into the slice, she <em> lit </em> up! Her eyes sparkled and she looked as happy as a kid in a sandbox!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smiles as he sees Boocille eat the slice of pizza. "I-a bet that'll help you recover much better as well." The Italian plumber tells her as he takes one more slice to chow down on happily, since that there's a few slices left and didn't want to waste. "S-so delicious..~"</p><p>Since these slices were pretty big, just one slice with most other crew mates got filled up pretty quickly- though Fargus is compelled to have one more slice and takes one more for himself to eat.</p><p> </p><p>The whole lot of the humans were well fed and could likely use a bit of rest now. Not fair to eat and not be able to digest! Especially with one still injured. With the whole ship being within the open seas, it was fine to rest for a few hours before returning to the fray.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>All the while, King Boo was gently dusting the picture frames of the entrapped people of the Mushroom Kingdom, chuckling in a sadistically jolly fashion. "<em> How does it feel to have your lovely mug plastered in such a horrified expression forever? Humiliating, terrifying? Ahaha~! I know you can't talk back. I just </em> <b> <em>love</em> </b> <em> to toy with the likes of you all..~ such a </em> <b> <em>pity</em> </b> <em> you all can't enjoy how much I'm loving this. </em> " He chortled, stuffing the duster into a non-existent pocket he had. Cartoonish physics for you. "<em>... hmm... can't say that I'm not becoming restless... a king with idle hands becomes much of a fool.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Maya sees King Boo trying to 'dust' off the paintings and glares at him, since the king hasn't been going to hide them throughout the ship yet. "<em>I know you'd want to keep them so that the blasted plumber can't find them as easily as the last times you've tried to hide them with your minions, but if they find out where we are before you do hide them, which is highly likely...</em>" Though the painting of Mario was already hidden somewhere else on the ship as he crosses his arms and snorts.</p><p> </p><p><em> What are two mamby pamby princesses going to do when they're going? Peach's special ability is crying while Daisy is powerless without her </em> <b> <em>precious</em> </b> <em> Goombas to keep her safe. And those damnable Toads... only good mushroom is one in soup. ... though, suppose I could make it a bit harder if that numbskull found them. Perhaps... broken open floors, trapeze-like pit-falls and swinging logs. Ooh..~ some of my favorite: crushing traps! That way that green-clad bozo can be </em> <b> <em>squashed</em> </b> <em> like the bug that he is! </em> " The boo cackled before clapping his hands, commanding a few smaller Boos to attention. "<em>I have an idea for a few of these paintings..~ a few traps to be created.</em>" "<em>Yes, my king!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the smaller boos taking most of the paintings away to hide them and set up traps to protect them, the painting of Princess Daisy was left behind with Maya and King Boo. "<em>Heh heh, at least we'll keep </em> <b> <em>this</em> </b> <em> one, since Daisy is Luigi's love of his life...</em>" The demonic spirit smirks, "<em>Though I won't underestimate what the plumber and the captain would do, since whenever we do, they will defeat us - and that Polterpup... We need to capture that pooch, because that blasted dog was the one who saved that plumber from being captured in that painting on the roof of that blasted hotel.</em>" It's like Maya can read King Boo's memories, even though that the king never said anything of the sort to the demonic spirit.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Very true. While I </em> <b> <em>love</em> </b> <em> messing with the romance that the green one has, it's best that I not fly so close to the sun. As for that blasted pup... what's a good way to catch a dog? Because, truly, I don't know... I've never </em> <b> <em>interacted</em> </b> <em> with a canine in my existence.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Well, we'll need to figure something out before the ghost pooch saves Luigi once again.</em>" Maya thinks a bit, wondering how to capture Polterpup. But it didn't take long for an idea to come to him. "<em>I have an idea, I'll be back.</em>" The demonic ghost flies through the walls to set up a trap for the ghost dog to fall for, whenever the dog wanders off on its own without Luigi nearby.</p><p> </p><p>King Boo chuckled and clapped his little hands together. While intelligent, he lacked the wisdom that Maya definitely had tucked away in the folds of his mind. Keeping the Boo from flying off the rails with his maniac ideas without sense or logic, he helped plan them out while Boo's subjects swore loyalty to the demonic lord. It was a union forged in the fires of Hell itself.</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Soon after, Luigi and Hatty along with Boocille had-to continue on to free more of the crew mates as well as hoping to find the green plumber's family. Of course, Hatty finally realizes that there was another key rattling inside his poltergust and tries to get it out, to no avail. "Hmm, have you tried to reverse it's-a function, to spit it out?" Luigi asks as he tries to show the button on the nozzle for Hatty's vacuum.</p><p> </p><p>"<em> Oh </em> ! Look at that... if it were a snake, it would've bit me. Lemme see how it--" Pushing down on the button, he didn't realize how <em> strong </em> it was! Being pushed back, he fell onto his rump before being <em> scooted </em> along, sliding across the floor as the vacuum pushed him around in circles. "<em>WOAH--- oooooAAAHhhh... ooooOOOAHhhh..!</em>" "Hatty, take your finger off the button! Kill the gas!" Gordon chuckled out, the captain's butt scooting stopping as his head spun dizzily. "Ehhh... that was fun until it wasn't... but, hey, I got the key..!"</p><p> </p><p>"That's great!" Luigi smiles, as the key spat out and onto the floor. "We must get going, but thank you for filling us up." Feeling stuffed, he thanks both Gordon and Chef as he gets up and heads out of the boat. Polterpup follows along as he goes through the walls with a happy yip.</p><p>Of course, Gadd was only able to finish probably 2/3 of his pizza before he got filled, but he also thanks the cooks before getting back on the chair. "We're thankful for filling us up with delicious pizza, I'll finish the rest later once I get hungry again." Being the geek he is, he tries to continue on with his work on his computers and hopes to set up more of the pixelators remotely from the cleared out rooms.</p><p> </p><p>"It's no trouble at all! Come back again for food and rest whenever needed. We'll keep an eye on Gadd in case something happens down here." Good that home base was gaining numbers and strength swiftly! As the two left to continue, Hatty picked up the key and dusted it off. He looked sadly at it, going rather quiet. "... this... this is the key to my brother's room. ... ... ..." He looked away, his smile leaving his face as he kept his eyes to the corner of the room.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks back to Hatty and frowns, seeing how depressed the captain got once he has the key to his brother's cabin in his hands. "<em>I-I'm-a sorry, Mr Hatty...</em>" He tells the captain and pats him on the shoulder while heading back up the stairs to try to find the captain's brother's cabin... Wherever that would be. While the green plumber was trying to cheer Hatty up a bit and kept going, Luigi wondered if Boocille would follow the two, even though she was still busy eating her slice of pizza.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... Mr. Luigi, Mr. Hatty, wait..! </em> " The soft voice echoed behind them, fluttering up to them with pizza sauce still on her face. "<em>Wait, let me help you both, please!</em>" "... heheh, miss. You have sauce on your face." Pulling a kerchief from his pocket, he gently wiped her face clean, causing her to turn pink across her face. "<em>Thank you.</em>" "... suppose we could always use the extra help."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Boocille come to them, Luigi smiles and pats her softly behind one of her yellow flowers with a happy laugh. "It's okay there, Boocille, it happens to me too." He mentions, as he finally remembers that with the second slice, the mess on his mustache he wiped off himself once more. "Are you feeling any stronger, Boocille?" Luigi asks her quietly as they get to the top of the stairs and looks around to see if the coast is clear before pressing on.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Much! I don't know what was in that pizza, but I feel like a new ghost! It's amazing! </em> " Her little tail wagged excitedly as her more solid form bobbed gently while hovering listlessly in the still air. "... could definitely use the moral support." "<em>Huh? Why?</em>" "We... we have to go into my brother's old room." "<em>Oh... yes... he is... one of them. I'm so sorry, Mr. Hatty...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As the three kept going cautiously to Reginald's cabin, both Luigi and Boocille try to help Hatty from going into deep depression, though Boocille had-to go into hiding within the green italian plumber eventually, in case if any ghosts or boos decide to spot the two without warning through the hallways. "Don't you worry, w-we'll get y-your b-brother back as s-soon as we can f-find and capture h-him." Luigi felt a little on edge and worried, since they're getting to an area in the ship that's mostly dark and turns on his flashlight to see in front of him.</p><p>As soon as they got close to Reginald's cabin, spectral gates came down in all directions to trap the two, which made Luigi jump and felt scared as he looked around. "<em>Ohh n-nooo...</em>" the green plumber gulps, wondering who wants to attack them next.</p><p>It didn't take long for one of the ghosts of the crew mates to show up through the floor behind the two, which was Nikola! The ghost snatches Luigi's legs and drags him down the hallway. "<b><em>AAIIIIIIEEE!!</em> </b> Let go!" Luigi tries to grab hold on the floor and struggles to get free, but to no avail. " <em> King Boo would definitely love to have you! </em>" Nikola laughs while Luigi gets more scared and quickly thinks of something. The green lad turns on his plunger nozzle and launches it close by, then turns on the vacuum nozzle and sucks up onto the rope to keep him in place. "HELP!!" He cries out for Hatty down the hallway while trying to keep grip onto the plunger.</p><p> </p><p>As Hatty was stuck in that bout of depressive sadness, he was shaken out of it by the arrival of the spectral Nikola. Seeing the spirit yank Luigi up by one of his legs, he tried to utilize his flash, but it wasn't going! It would sputter before crackling... shaking the flashlight, he twisted the bulb before seeing that it was misaligned. Once it was screwed properly into place, he turned it onto Nikola and gave him a <em> brilliant </em> and stunning flash. "I'm sorry about this, friend!" Sucking up the ghost by the tail, he followed Luigi's technique with slamming the corrupt specter into the ground before the machine gulped him up.</p><p> </p><p>With a shaky sigh, he turned to Luigi and offered him a hand. "Are you alright, friend?"</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty had captured Nikola, Luigi felt shaken from the specter grabbing hold. "<em>Th-thank you...</em>" He quivers as the plunger dissolves once he lets it go from the vacuum. The green stache grabs the captain's hand and gets up with his help, now felt a sharp pain in his ankle. " <em> OUCH!! </em>" He limps about as the spectral gates lift up once more. Looks like Nikola grabbed his ankle in the worst way possible, but mostly a sprain and would recover quickly.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing Luigi's cry of pain, Hatty looked to the other's injured ankle, pulling up his pant leg. "Oh, gosh... that's a bad bruise. Let me..." Gently, he squeezed up the injured muscle and lightly massaged the sore tissue. "These spirits are <em> ruthless </em>. It's like they're prepping for a football game."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi hisses from Hatty squeezing and massaging his ankle, though his red and white striped socks show when the captain lifted up his pant leg. Of course, his sock had-to be pulled down to see the bruise, but Luigi was a fighter and tried to stand up once again. "<em>W-we can't stay here, th-they'll still c-come for us...</em>" The green stache shaking mutters out as he struggles to get up and limpingly continues on towards Reginald's cabin.</p><p>Despite all of this, Boocille got concerned about Luigi and his injury to his ankle.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille swiftly fluttered over and held Luigi up off his injured leg side. "<em>Careful, please... lean against me and don't put too much weight on it. Let yourself heal a little bit. I'll help you along.</em>" "I'll walk ahead, make sure the coast is clear." He didn't want <em> either </em> of the two to risk injury again.</p><p> </p><p>Gee, the two have a knack for getting injured in almost every turn... Even when they try to be careful, just that surprise attacks don't help the situation.</p><p>Luigi thanks Boocille for helping, as he leans against her a little bit to help get the pain off his ankle while limping toward the cabin and gets to the locked door.</p><p>Though, the green lad senses danger nearby, but doesn't know where and shines the light from behind to make sure no ghosts pop up. "<em>S-someth-thing isn't r-right...</em>" He mumbles quietly with his voice box crackling.</p><p> </p><p>Up to the door, Hatty took the key and brought it to the lock, but it instead flew forward and unlocked the door instead. The doors flew open to find <em> many </em> tiny, childish Boos <em> destroying </em> the room! They were shaking drawers out and toppling furniture, which caused the otherwise jolly captain to turn to a rage. "<b><em>GET OUT OF HERE!!</em></b>" His voice <em> boomed </em> with a deep, angry grumble that was enough to send the spirits squealing in fear, packing up and flying away, leading the ruins of the room in their wake.</p><p> </p><p>"... God, I can't believe this... look at what they've <em> done </em> . It's... <em> obliterated</em>."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi saw how angry the captain got when the boos ransacked the cabin and hid against the wall just outside until he was done with the boos. Though he peaks inside to see if Hatty was finished with them before entering inside and limps to the bed to sit. "<em> Ouchie mamma... </em>" He looks up to Hatty while lifting his injured leg up on the bed to try to massage his ankle. "I-I'm sorry..." The green lad sympathizes with the captain, since he would have felt the same if the ghosts had ransacked Mario's room back at their home. "I-I would've done the same, to be honest with you..." He looks down in sadness, as he also worries about his brother.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille took the moment to work Luigi's injured ankle. "<em>I can help you, Mr. Luigi... don't worry. Mr. Hatty? Will you be alright?</em>" "... I... I just need a moment... to stew..." He muttered out, going to a frame that was knocked down and strewn on the floor amidst broken glass and shattered bits of mirror. Picking it up, the aged picture of himself and Reginald when they were children was there. In his mind played a visage of when he and Reggie were children, playing on their bed together back in France.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Vous ne pouvez pas m'attraper!</em>" The tiny Hatty squeaked as his older brother Reginald played along, trying to catch the wriggling child. Reginald was older than him by eight years, but that did nothing to hinder the loving, brotherly bond. They <em> adored </em> each other since day one... and to know that the captain's carelessness and adamant demand for adventure put his own flesh and blood in such a damned position hurt far more than the wound on his head. The scream at the Boos reopened the wound, causing it to bleed through the bandages and run down his eye. The stinging didn't bother him half as much as the pain in his <em> heart</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt a sting on how Hatty is feeling, since he cares much more than his brother will ever be. He cares about his home, his brother, Peach, his love, his ghost dog, the Mushroom Kingdom... Pretty much anyone he comes across.</p><p>The green-clothed lad reaches to Hatty's arm and pulls him down onto the bed to help him sulk. "<em>Y-you know... At least our brothers do care f-for us, even when... Sometimes, they don't share it.</em>" Luigi pats Hatty's shoulder while continuing his massaging on his ankle.</p><p> </p><p>"I know that... it isn't that we've never shared it. It's that I can't believe I dragged my older brother into this. I remember, he <em> told </em> me not to go into the fog, but I didn't listen. I was prideful and naïve to the consequences. Now... I don't even know <em> where </em> my brother is on this ship, if he even <em> is </em> still on this ship." It was horribly sad, hearing Hatty regal his tale.</p><p> </p><p>"M-my bro is the same way l-like you, he would have gone on all types of adventures and I worry like your brother, and told him to not get into dangerous situations... <em> especially </em> getting onto this ship when it decided to stop by the Mushroom Kingdom, where most of us live..." Boy, the mushroom Kingdom sounded like a fairy tale place to visit, since this place never existed in the real world.</p><p>Though, Luigi couldn't help but sulk a bit as well, closing his eyes and shedding tears a little bit, though he pulls his hat down to try to hide his emotional expression. He didn't want this to happen, but fate decided to get into trouble again with King Boo.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over to Luigi and noticing the wetness rolling down his face, Hatty pulled the other closer into a hug, being a shoulder for him to lean on. "... I promise you, we'll get your brother back, even if it's the last thing I do."</p><p> </p><p>The green plumber cries on Hatty's shoulder and sobs profusely, since he's one for letting his emotions out, unlike his brother. "<em>I-it's like... Th-they want m-me... T-trapped i-i-in that p-p-painttinngg...</em>" Though that did help relieve the sadness that was festering inside, at least it helped calm Luigi down after a couple minutes.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, the italian plumber wipes away the tears from his face and straightens his hat after letting go of the captain. "I'm sorry that I've let myself go like that..." He sighs heavily as he looks down at the floor and wipes his big nose with a big sniff. "I do miss my bro every time he goes on adventures without me, but when I do come with, it feels nice. Though, whenever I see him go into situations like this, I feel a sense of <em> dread </em>... And think of the worst case scenario that I'll never see him again..."</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay, you needed the cry. It isn't healthy to hold all of that in. As for your brother, you've said it yourself: you've saved him before, yes? But this time, you have <em> help </em> . So much more, so! I'm not going to let you go at this alone, no matter what happens. Your brother can hold his own, I'm sure, and as can you. But... it's important that we stick side by side so we can save <em> both </em> of our brothers. I'm not sure how I could make this up to you, your brother, or an entire <em> kingdom </em>... but mark my words: when everyone is saved? My ship shall be forever indebted to the Mushroom Kingdom. If it wasn't for your bravery in coming here, and your own initiative with saving us and Dr. E. Gadd... we'd likely cause so much more damage, under a false god and lying king."</p><p> </p><p>"Th-thank you..." He felt happier that he won't be alone in rescuing their brothers as well as the crew, but after hearing what the S.S. Friendship would have done if the green-clothed lad didn't rescue Hatty himself nor Gadd, or even got captured himself- the entire Mushroom Kingdom would have been under King Boo's and Lord Maya's control. "W-well, at least it I lucked out in not getting captured myself... For now, until we're able to capture the two ourselves." Capturing King Boo is getting more irritating the more times Luigi had-to capture him, since this would have been the fourth time, and hopes that this could be the final time.</p><p>While Hatty and Luigi were talking, Boocille was listening in on what they're saying, which was much more heartbreaking than the two let on.</p><p>Though it didn't last long as spectral gates came down once more while the two were in Reginald's cabin. Looks like the ghosts have a sense of where Hatty and Luigi are on the ship. Of course, Luigi jumps a bit from hearing the spectral gates and the cabin goes dark, prompting him to quickly whip out his flashlight and look around. "<em>Uh oh...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty <em> immediately </em> jumped to his feet at seeing the gates erect, looking about with a harsh scowl. "... as long as we're brothers in arms, I'll protect you as though you're my <em> own </em> brother." He spoke out boldly as several <em> blocky </em> looking spirits came out, some of them having the <em> audacity </em> to be wearing some of Reginald's robes. "<em>How dare you put his incredible attire on your filthy, rotten forms!</em>" Snarling out, he flashes one of the spirits brightly before sucking him up by the tail.</p><p>Showing <em> no </em> mercy, he slammed the specter down, causing clothes and <em> coins </em> to go flying and ricocheting off the walls! The spirit attempted to claw at the floor, horrified, and tried to scurry to freedom, but was drawn in... and soon, the other now terrified lesser spirits were drawn in as well. Guess that's <em> one </em> thing you do <em> not </em> do... mess with Hatty's family!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi tries to help out, but with his gimp ankle, he had-to stay on the bed and try to help as much as he can by flashing the lesser ghosts from behind, but not without getting hit from one of them and gets knocked off the bed. "OOF!!" He turns to suck up the stunned ghosts as he gets up. Luckily that a few of the lesser ghosts ran off when they saw Hatty and Luigi getting most of them. "Ugh... W-we need to keep going..."</p><p> </p><p>Hoisting Luigi up off of the floor after the gates fell, he sighed out as he looked the man over. "Shouldn't we regroup? Your leg looks pretty badly hurt from that fiend that yanked you around like a rag doll..."</p><p> </p><p>"N-no, we need to press on... We can't stay, or we will become vulnerable..." Even though Luigi is still in pain, he can't just sit back and heal... He <em> had-to </em> get his brother back, no matter the cost... Even if he gets scared and timid easily, and probably the pain in his leg to get worse.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille, upon seeing Luigi's pain, got an idea. Flying down, she shrunk herself down to a crutch-like size and wriggled underneath the plumber's knee. With her form keeping his leg bent and up, she was perfect leverage and support so he could move without pressing down on his ankle. "<em>Here, I can keep your leg from getting hurt! It's too costly for me to make you float, but I can do </em> <b> <em>this</em></b><em>!</em>" "Thank you, Boocille." Hatty felt a bit relieved that she could help in such a way, keeping Luigi on his feet so he could stay alert.</p><p> </p><p>With Boocille's help, Luigi was able to stand and help continue on, "Th-thank you..." Though, they wonder what the little boos wanted in Reginald's cabin, so the two start searching. Was it a special item? A key? A momento? <em> Something </em>... Eventually, after looking around inside the drawers, under the bed and behind certain items and furniture, Luigi found a key that goes somewhere and shows it to Hatty. "Any idea where this goes to?" The green lad wonders.</p><p> </p><p>Looking to that key, Hatty made a face as his foggy memory tried to serve him. "... hmm... truth be told, I don't remember this one. I <em> do </em> remember that it's for the upper levels. ... might be for the bridge? Granted, I'm not too sure. Either the bridge or captain's quarters." It was... well, <em> ages </em> since he'd seen those keys, so memory was faded by now.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, we can always try~" His enthusiasm felt a little light at the end of the tunnel, though a very long one to say the least.</p><p>As Luigi leaves Reginald's cabin to try to find the upstairs, he feels the urge to stay cautious and keeps an eye out for anything out of the ordinary down the dark hallways with his flashlight. He can never be too careful when ghosts and boos are around, because of their mischievous nature and can be unpredictable at times.</p><p> </p><p>The stairs creaked and crackled under their weight, more so under Hatty's mass due to him being a touch more plump. "Agh... gosh. Boocille, hold Luigi steady. I may be a moment up the stairs." "<em>Yes sir, captain!</em>" Helping Luigi speedily up the rotted stairs, Hatty held both hands on the rail, climbing upwards. "Don'tbreakdon'tbreakpleasedon'tbreak..."</p><p> </p><p>As both Luigi and Hatty both carefully climbed up the rotted stairs, it creaked from each step, but Luigi felt something was <em> Off </em> , so he went up more slowly and behind the captain and his nervousness showed. "<em>B-be caref-ful, s-something i-isn't r-right...</em>" He studderly warns the captain.</p><p>An evil laughter echoes throughout the two's ears as the stairs decide to flip into a steep slide, which makes the two faceplant themselves and slide all the way back down to the bottom of the 'slide'. "OOF! Ow..."</p><p> </p><p>Hatty's feet skittered beneath him as he slid down, ending up beneath the plumber. Being chin down with how he landed, Luigi's rump ended up gliding atop of his head, sitting politely on top of the captain's crown. He wriggled, blinded by the smothering corduroy. "<em>Mmhh..!! Mh cnnht shnn..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gets up quickly after realizing that he was on top of Hatty and yelps slightly. Looking back down to Hatty, seeing the blood on his head made his heart go heavy, which made his head feel dizzy and collapsed onto the floor. Whoops, looks like he can't stand the sight of blood and literally faints.</p><p>Just after Luigi had fainted, Polterpup pops out from the wall and yips at Hatty as he goes over to the plumber and sniffs around.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling himself up and feeling the bandages pulled from his head, wound reopening and bleeding, he didn't realize that Luigi would faint from it. Gasping, he tried to nudge Luigi awake. "<em>Mr. Luigi? Mr. Luigi?</em>" "<em>Uh-oh... I think the blood made him pass out! I can bandage you back up, t-then we probably need to find a better route up.</em>" Boocille had to get the first aid kit out, repatching up Hatty's hurt head. "Ow... thank you. Boocille. Egh... man, that hurts."</p><p> </p><p>Polterpup barks as he fishes out something out of Luigi's pocket- a golden bone, which the pooch <em> loves </em>. After the ghost pooch gulps it in one go, he jumps onto the green plumber's belly to force him to wake him up, which was successful and made Luigi bolt right up, fully awake. As the green lad looks around, he notices that Polterpup is next to him and wagging his tail as well as Hatty getting patched up from Boocille. "I-I'm sorry I fainted... Just can't stand the sight of blood..."</p><p> </p><p>"Are you alright, Luigi? You were <em> completely </em> unconscious!" Hatty remarked, wincing as his forehead was patched back up with tighter bandages. "<em>Easy, Hatty... you can't keep popping your wounds open. You'll have a nasty scar, and you're a handsome man! Don't want to muddy your looks.</em>" "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Are you <em> sure </em> you're well after that, Luigi? I was scared you'd bashed your head and knocked yourself out."</p><p>As they talked, there was a small squeaking sound... too soft for the humans or Boocille to hear, but enough for Polterpup to hear it...</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, I'll be okay for now..." Polterpup, but the happy dog he is next to Luigi, nuzzles against his shoulder while the plumber is still sitting on the floor. The green lad couldn't help but pet his beloved ghost puppy all over. Of course, the dog rolled on his back to let the plumber pet his belly. At least it helps distract Luigi while Boocille is almost finished patching Hatty up. "Heh heh, you're such a good puppy~"</p><p>While the ghost dog was being petted and Hatty finally patched up completely, Polterpup gets up and follows the sound, leaving the two and Boocille behind.</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty was patched up with the bloodied bandages done away with, Boocille lightly patted Hatty's shoulder before going to check on Luigi. "<em>Are you sure you're well enough to get back on your feet? I saw you go down, I couldn't catch you in time!</em>" Poor sweet Boocille worried herself far too much with these two. At least Hatty would be fine.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, the rhythmic squeaking that seemed to synch up with the creaking of the ship seemed to pick up every so often. It wasn't anything the humans could notice, but it would be enough for a pup to become incredibly drawn to. Around the bends, there was what looked like a squeaky snake toy with bubbly, swiveling googly eyes that flopped about chaotically. It looked like a lot of fun for a doggy, but this was simply the wool of the sheep...</p><p> </p><p>Luigi sees Polterpup go up the stairs, that are still shifted as a slide as he tries to stand up. "Y-yeah, I'm sure." With the pain in his ankle still throbbing though it's diminishing, he fights through it as much as he can. It didn't take long for the stairs to change back to actual stairs, which helps the two continue on- Just as when Polterpup yelps out loudly as if he's crying out and makes Luigi worry about his pooch. "Polterpup!" He tries to get up the stairs as fast as he could while being careful.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing the yelping, Hatty and Boocille hurried up the stairs as well. However, once they managed to arrive at the top of the staircase, there was the piece of a golden bone left behind without any sign of Polterpup nearby. "... oh... oh <em> no </em>! Something's absconded with Polterpup!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi spotted the piece of the golden bone on the floor at the top and picked it up. Seeing that the ghost pooch was nowhere in sight, he turned on the darklight to see where he <em> really </em> went off to. "Polterpuppy..?" He notices that the ghost dog's spectral foot prints ended where the piece was left behind, and there was no spectral imprint on any of the walls, floor or ceiling... That concerns the green lad, and worries of what happened to the pooch. " <em> Oh oh no... </em>" He tries to call out for him as Boocille goes back into hiding after they get up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty whistled out, clicking his teeth, anything to get that precious Polterpuppy to come back to them! But... there was nothing but silence. No barking, no yapping... it was like he simply vanished! "... who would <em> do </em> such a low-lively thing and <em> dognap </em> an innocent puppy! Those <em> damned </em> spirits aren't going to be getting away with this so easily, mark my words!"</p><p> </p><p>Even though both Hatty and Luigi kept calling out to Polterpup, the two had-to press on to get to the bridge. Of course, just as when they get to the bridge, more of the spectral gates close down around the two, making Luigi jump from the sudden noise from them. "<em> N-now wh-what..? </em>" He shines his light around, being dark and all in hopes to spot a ghost to come and attack them.</p><p> </p><p>A few lesser spirits came about... one of them had a glowing orb that seemed to shiver in its gullet. Hatty spotted this, nudging Luigi. "I'll take care of the scraggling ones, you focus on the one with the gold in its belly."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he charges his flash at the ghosts to stun them. Once they were stunned, Luigi goes after the ghost with something glowing inside it with his vacuum nozzle. The green lad gets dragged a bit, but holds his ground as best he could, even with the pain still radiating from his ankle. "<em> I-I'll get y-you..!! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was struggling with the few specters flying about him in halos. Some would bump into his back and stumble him, causing him to growl and flash them harshly. He was far less merciful, showing little pity to these undead <em> pirates </em> . " <em> I'll be sure to send you back to </em> <b> <em>Hell</em> </b> <em> , spirits! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi had sucked up the ghost, the poltergust spits out the key and lands on the floor. The green plumber limpingly walks over to the key and picks it up. "Another key..." Walking back to Hatty, the captain was able to open the door to the bridge, which was unusually open without need for a key... Strange, if the key wasn't used for the bridge, then where does the key <em> really </em> go to?</p><p>Both Luigi and Hatty go inside the bridge and carefully look around, not wanting to disturb anything in case if any ghosts want to hide within certain spots. The green stache quivers, hoping that no ghost shows its face.</p><p>Hatty's memories of what happened that fateful day hits him like a truck, recalling what happened to him just before he got thrown in the extractor.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the destruction of the control panel and pieces of the broken wheel before him caused the man to wander forward, a hand idly stroking against the splintered wheel. It was a truly demoralizing sight. Looking over to some of the moss, he brushed it away to find a picture, still preserved in frame. Him and Reginald, in their youth, when they first set sail on their maiden voyage. "... God in Heaven..."</p><p> </p><p>Sighing out, he looked back to the key before something hit him. "... wait-" He hurried over to a drawer, and with a few good yanks, it opened. Pulling out a rolled up wad of linen, it was a map of the ship. "Oh, thank goodness! We can use this..!!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi overhears Hatty and goes over to him, looking over the map of the ship. "H-hey! That would be perfect! Professor Gadd would be pleased to see this, and would help us as well." The plumber felt happy that they now have the map to know where everything is at as well as plopping the key he just got onto the map.</p><p>Once the key lands onto the map, the key reacts, which makes the two surprised, yet the green lad gets nervous and anxious upon seeing the key move on its own on the map. "<em> Wh-what's g-going on..? </em>" He quietly whispers while hiding behind Hatty and seeing the key move to a certain spot on the map.</p><p> </p><p>"What the..?" Hatty watched as the key slid across the map... it suddenly stopped, and the captain felt his blood run cold. "... the medical bay. Good <em> lord </em> , I could only imagine what must be lingering there. I just hope that we might be able to find Polterpup there. B-before we go there, we should probably bring this map to E. Gadd. Heavens forbid we <em> lose </em> it now."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps after seeing the key stop at the spot. "Y-yeah, he can help us with the map." Just as when the two mutters about taking the map to Gadd, like clockwork, spectral gates slam down at the door, trapping the two in. "<em> EEP!! Oh no... </em>" He hears the familiar sound and gets scared while still behind Hatty and looks around with his flashlight.</p><p> </p><p>Scowling, he turned his flashlight about... though what they weren't expecting now was exactly what was to come. A hoarse cry exploded from nothing, as several <em> ransacker </em> ghosts appeared! They looked like the foot troops that pirates would have: dingy shirts, bandanas and dirty hands while being armed with spectral blades that were too blunt to cut, but could leave <em> nasty </em> bruises in their wakes. "Bloody Hell! Ghost pirates!"</p><p> </p><p>"<em> O-oh n-n-no... </em>" Luigi whispered, as he tried to release his strobulb charge on the ghost pirates. Though, some have eye patches to help protect the flashing light but were able to suck up the ones that weren't protected as easily. At least they're easier to deal with compared to the ghosts of the crew mates.</p><p>With seeing the ghosts with eye patches unaffected, Luigi uses his vacuum to try to suck up the eye patches while they try to attack, though when they try to attack him, he barely moves out of the way for most and sucks up the patches and the spectral blades. One of them, however, snuck behind Luigi after he moved away from Hatty and whacked the plumber from behind, knocking him to the floor. "OOF! Ow..."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the specters circling from all sides, Hatty turned on the vacuum at seeing Luigi's failed stun attempts. As they were trying, Boocille couldn't just <em> sit and watch </em> ! She decided to help... turning invisible, she crept up behind a few ghosts that were readying a <em> cannon </em> of all things! As they chatted indistinguishably, she bloated herself up, puffing up greatly before-</p><p> </p><p>"<b> <em>BLAAAAGH!!</em> </b> " She reappeared, large teeth and a scrunched, angry expression on her face. The pirates <em> shrieked </em> , dropping the cannonballs and scrambling in each direction. " <em> That's what you nasty ghosties get! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi sees Boocille helping out herself, he quickly gets up and tries to suck up the ghost pirates after stunning them. Though a few were still trying to run and had a hard time trying to get the ones from running away.</p><p>After some time has passed, all the ghosts have finally gotten captured and the gates lift up so the three can move on from the bridge. "Phew, that was tough..." Luigi says as he takes his hat off and wipes his forehead before putting it back on.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was left panting, holding onto the wound on his head. All the excitement was upsetting his headache. "Nngh... how ironic I'm falling down with a headache. I hope that the medical bay isn't going to be a bloody <em> nightmare </em> and there might be some paracetamol down there that hasn't expired yet. Boocille, how are you doing?"</p><p> </p><p>"<em> ... that... was actually kind of fun! Hehe..~ I've never been purposefully scary! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>"I'm-a glad you had fun <em> scaring </em> the other ghosts." Luigi laughs as he walks over to Boocille and pats her head softly. Though hearing that Hatty has a bad headache and the fighting is making it worse. The plumber walks over painfully to the captain. " <em> L-let's get going... </em> " He mutters as he rolls up the map of the ship and shoves it in his pocket... Wonders where all the stuff goes in his <em> bottomless </em> pockets.</p><p>As the three continued on and went back downstairs to get to the medical bay, they saw a really close lightning strike near the S.S. Friendship through one of the port holes and hear the loud boom sound immediately right after- making Luigi yelp and clamp himself onto the captain as his body shakes in fear. Boy, even sudden loud noises can spook the geen-clothed plumber.</p><p> </p><p>The thunder was enough to leave even Hatty quaking in his boots. "<em> Good grief </em> ! Must be quite a storm out there right now. Shocked the ship isn't rocking off its own bow..." Showed the craftsmanship behind the wood and metal that supported this once glorious vessel. At the two metal doors, the viewing windows were tainted and covered in fingerprints... this was <em> intensely </em> creepy. Opening the double doors, they shrieked with their rusted hinges, revealing the flickering overhead examination lights.</p><p> </p><p>"... to think going to the doctor's wasn't any <em> more </em> hair raising, there's a way to make it <em> worse </em>." Turning on his flashlight to negate the dizzying effects of the sputtering lights. Looking through the drawers idly, Hatty sighed when he found a small bottle of chewable aspirin. "... just two more months left on the date. Thank goodness... at least now I can combat this headache."</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi had gotten to the medical bay, his body quivers as he looks around. "<em> F-feels c-c-crreepy in h-here... </em> " Seeing all the medical equipment makes him feel uneasy while he gets to the bed in the center of the room. " <em> W-will you be o-okay..? </em>" The green lad whispers to Hatty while he checks a few things in the medical bay. A few coins that Luigi knows about spat out from a couple drawers and picks them up. "Huh, do you carry these kinds of coins on your ship?" Luigi shows the few coins to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"... funny enough, no? I don't recall us ever having such doubloons before." Hatty spoke between chewing on two tablets, pocketing the rest. "We may need these later on. Hope they kick in soon..." Looking about, Hatty couldn't help but feel an uneasy feeling under those sputtering lights. Going up to them, he decides to turn them off so they stop shuddering. "There... that was driving me mad."</p><p> </p><p>Just as he did that, that seemed to tick off a booby trap that caused the doors to shut with spectral gates locking them within the medical bay. "<em>Bollocks!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi jumps from having the trap set on both of them as Boocille hides herself within the plumber once more, just in case. "<em>G-good j-job there...</em>" At least that the green plumber is being a little sarcastic as he looks to find a hiding spot with his flashlight. Once he found one quickly, he dived under it to keep himself from being spotted... For now.</p><p>Two ghosts come out of hiding after the lights turn off completely, it was Kev and Dorchester! "<em> Well well, looks like the captain needs some </em> <b> <em>Work</em> </b> <em> , don't you say? </em> " Kev laughs as he flies around the captain once and notices the wound on his head. <em> A good weakness </em> to knock Hatty around. " <em> Where's your friend? Did he run off like he typically does? </em>" Dorchester scoffs at Hatty, seeing that he's alone at the time and didn't realize that Luigi went into hiding... As of yet.</p><p> </p><p>Sputtering out, before he could reply to Luigi, Hatty was cornered and cut off from his partner in ghost hunting. "<em>T-that's nothing for you to-- hey!! Let go of me!! Let me go!!</em>" Hatty squirmed, suddenly being strapped down to a gurney at his arms, torso and legs, preventing all movement. Dorchester pulled up his reflector, shining it brightly against Hatty as he assessed the wounds." <em> Tch-tch-tch! What poor wrappings... seems his head is badly injured. An easy fix... but I think we can put his head to better use </em> <b> <em>off</em> </b> <em> this body! </em> " "What?! No!! Dorchester, Kev!! It's me, your captain, Hatty Hattington!" " <em> Must be delusional! Anesthetize the patient, Dr. Kev~! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>While overhearing what's going on, Luigi peaks out from his hiding spot to see what's going on. .oO( <em> Boocille... I need to help Mr. Hatty out... </em> ) He thought to himself so she could hear him, as he concentrated, activating a little bit of her abilities to help his own body go invisible- amid his poltergust, which couldn't get completely invisible, but almost.</p><p>Once the invisibility trick was activated, he sneaks out of his hiding spot and sneaks around, hoping to get close enough before the two ghosts spot at least his slightly visible vacuum on his back. Though, each step could be heard from the two ghosts and Hatty as the green plumber tries to keep himself in the dark, so the invisibility was most effective- just hoping that one of the two doesn't shine the light on him while sneaking around.</p><p> </p><p>The two specters pulled up a <em> sinister </em> looking needle, causing Hatty to truly strain and struggle, horrified at the sight of such a thing. "<em>NO, NO!! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!! STOP, NO!!</em>" Despite his screams, the needle met his neck, and the substance was pumped directly into his veins. "<em>WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?! WHAT HA... HAve... you... h-hhaaahhh...</em>" His head fell back with his whole body going lame. " <em> Perfect~! He's out, that'll make things much easier! </em> " Dorchester clapped his hands before hearing something on his left. "<em>... Kev, ready the patient. I think I have to give a referral~.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Floating up, he turned his reflector down and <em> flooded </em> the room with a truly brilliant flash that illuminated everything, even Luigi's whereabouts. Boocille gasped, squealing within Luigi's flesh. " <em> Oh no..! This is bad, I can't keep you invisible in those bright lights! </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gets spooked when his invisibility cloak is shown through thanks to the bright light. This is bad, since he can't hide, nor flash his own light at the two docs. Nervous, he had-to think of something and <em> fast </em> before the two docs do <em> anything </em> on Hatty. Kev doesn't hesitate to get some surgical equipment and uses them to defend himself from Luigi; which helps the green plumber of who to attack first as he leaps into a spot that's still dark in the room.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille kept expending all she could so Luigi could remain unseen, heard groaning as she felt herself growing weaker. .oO( <em> I'm... not... going to let you down, Mr. Luigi! You... you're our only hope! And I owe this... to you! For everything you've done for the Mushroom Kingdom, and all of the people you've helped! </em> ) She sounded <em> determined </em>, even though it hurt.</p><p> </p><p>As Kev readied his scalpels and sharp instruments, Dorchester spirited Hatty away into another room... the <em> surgical bay </em> . Christ in Heaven, the captain was <em> truly </em> regretting having this put in the ship now, for sure. A price to pay for medical availability, it seemed. The place that once saved his life from viral appendicitis was now likely going to be his entombment chamber. "<em>One finger, two finger, red finger, white finger..~ it's going to be so much fun carving him away~!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The moment of opportunity struck when Kev came close and flashed his bright light at the specter doc after he deactivated the invisibility cloak to stun him. "<em>Y-you're n-not g-getting away w-with this...</em>" Once stunned, he switches to the vacuum and grabs hold of Kev's specter tail. Of course, he gets dragged along with much resistance. The resistance was strong enough to get dragged into the surgical bay quickly, in which Kev disrupts Dorchester by pummeling into him. After much tugging, Luigi was finally able to capture Kev into his poltergust. "Got you!"</p><p> </p><p>The other doctor was thrown away from the gurney that the captain was strapped to, still heavily drugged and unconscious. Dorchester went tumbling as his co-surgeon was sucked away to the now visible Luigi. Boocille's small sigh echoed as it all went silent, leaving an <em> enraged </em> Dorchester to turn to the plumber.</p><p> </p><p>"<b><em>You dare interrupt a surgeon's work?! Well, why don't I start collecting samples from your HEAD?!</em></b>" Holding his hands out, he pulled up an <em> army </em> of syringes and waved his arms, causing them to <em> fly </em> towards Luigi. Uh-oh!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi screams out as he quickly tries to dodge the syringes while sucking up others with his vacuum. His heart beating fast, he had-to get to Dorchester somehow without getting hit. Charging up his strobulb, the green plumber gets his chance to get close to release the flash to stun the specter. Unknowingly, Luigi did get stuck on his leg, but it won't take effect yet as he latches onto Dorchester's tail.</p><p> </p><p>The flash managed to stun the specter between the blinding flashes of his reflector, and the vacuum was far stronger than he could fight. After dragging and a struggle, the ghost was sucked in. With that, it was over... but now... everything was spinning around and going dark...</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt groggy after finally realizing that a syringe had stuck him, and collapsed to the floor. Boocille felt everything the Luigi had felt from within, <em> especially </em> when he fell in a state of unconsciousness; even though Boocille is trying internally to wake the green-clothed lad up to no avail.</p><p> </p><p>It didn't take long for the GameBoo Advance SP to start ringing in Luigi's pants pocket, but with the plumber out like a light, he wasn't picking up - which made Gadd and a few of the crew mates worry. "Blasted! Luigi should have picked up by now." Gadd yells out, "Shouldn't we try to go rescue them?" Aaron asks Gadd.</p><p> </p><p>As the communicator continued to ring, it seemed that it would be no luck. That was until the device was picked up... a small, squeaky, ghostly voice echoed through without any noticeable words coming through. Unintelligible, this continued for a moment before it went dead silent again.</p><p> </p><p>In truth, what was happening was that the swiftly fading Boocille was getting Luigi up onto the gurney with Hatty, getting the restraints off and pushing the two to safety out of the dangerous medical ward before some sort of nurse ghost popped up! Pushing them out of the surgical room, she couldn't keep her physical form solid any longer...</p><p> </p><p>After the GameBoo Advance SP had picked up and wasn't Luigi; Gadd and the crew mates hear the soft voice, and the professor works quickly to get the pixelator camera set up in the medical ward remotely once they find out where they are, thanks to the GPS built into the device for a brief moment. "Quickly! Luigi, Boocille and Hatty need help!" Gadd activates the pixelator, sending Aaron and a couple other crew mates to recover the green plumber, the cute little boo and the captain from the medical ward.</p><p>Once Aaron and the couple crew mates have transported into the medical ward, they quickly go and search for Luigi, Boocille and Hatty. "I hope they didn't get very far." Aaron tells the other crewmates as they go look for them.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, the two were found in the infirmary, both unconscious with clear signs of drugging. However... Boocille was <em> nowhere </em> to be seen! She wasn't around, she wasn't talking... but there was no time to question at the moment, they had to get the two to safety!</p><p> </p><p>Once Aaron and the couple crew mates locate the two, they pick up Luigi and Hatty and bring them to a television that's in the medical ward to transport everyone back to Gadd's lab.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>During that time, King Boo and Maya have been keeping tabs of what's going on in the ship, while they were successful in capturing Polterpup. "<em>Ahh, excellent~ The ghost pooch has been captured.</em>" Maya snears as he has the dog locked up in a very small spectral cage so he couldn't escape.</p><p> </p><p>The poor sweet pup was whimpering fearfully as Boo circled about the cage. "<em>This is wonderful! Without the reviving aid of his precious pup, that little nematode will be </em> <b> <em>powerless</em> </b> <em> to shake himself out of an unrousable state! This was a stroke of pure </em> <b> <em>genius</em> </b> <em> , Lord Maya!! In no time, we'll wipe the world clean of that little green, corduroy wearing miscreant... the world will be ours! A little pearl to marvel, bask... and completely </em> <b> <em>annihilate</em></b><em>!!</em>" He rubbed his little mitts together, cackling maniacally.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>We've gone so far without complication, our army still stands strong, and our best traps are yet to be sprung... and this incredible achievement is all thanks to </em> <b> <em>your</em> </b> <em> involvement with my troops! You've taken the dysfunction out of my army, made it a tactical group... and strengthened my numbers in par with freeing me from that awful prison Gadd had trapped me in. Seven years of being trapped in that little thing... forced to swelter, made to listen to that old goat ramble on. To taste freedom again is simply intoxicating~! This the greatest gift you could've given an undead ruler. </em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, and when the silly plumber is vulnerable and weakened, we'll be able to capture him as well~ Then </em> <b> <em>no one</em> </b> <em> is going to stop us! </em> " Though they don't know about the crew mates that had been freed, they are helping Hatty and Luigi instead of Polterpup in times of their vulnerability. " <em> Even better, we could make the ghost pooch go against the weakling, and see how well they'll treat the dog then~ </em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oohohoho~! I might have just the thing for that!</em>" Taking a small piece of the gem from atop of his crown, he held it in his hands before it was crushed down to a smaller size. Gently putting a stubby mit to his belly, he summoned what looked like an extra tough piece of collar material up and made what looks like a collar. "<em>This will ensure </em> <b> <em>utter</em> </b> <em> obedience to us and </em> <b> <em>no other</em></b><em>!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once King Boo has put the special collar on Polterpup over the much more tame one, the ghost pooch stopped being scared and yips cheerfully instead of whimpering and feeling scared from the two. "<em> Good... Now, let's set the trap! </em>" Maya laughs as he snaps his fingers, making the spectral cage and the ghost pooch to disappear and teleport them to a different part of the ship for Luigi and Hatty to find.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>HAHAHARHARHAR~!! Ooh, such </em> <b> <em>fun</em> </b> <em> ! I haven't had this sort of a thrill in centuries! </em> " Floating over to Maya, his nubby mitts held onto the other's hands with his toothy grin. "<em>This has made this old ghost feel like a breath of fresh air! I can't begin to explain my excitement! </em> " However, his eyes opened once again and looked down, realizing he was holding Maya's hands. Turning a bit pinkish, he pulled back before shaking himself off." <em> A-anyway--!! I must calm down now. Can't rule without composure! </em>"</p><p><br/>Maya was confused of <em> why </em> King Boo held his hand as he lifts and eyebrow, .oO( <em> Awkward... </em> ) But, the demonic ghost couldn't help but snicker a bit after King Boo realized what he did. "<em>Heh, I wouldn't worry about it.</em>" Maya is usually the calm and content one as he pats King Boo on his head.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Creepy Crawlies Galore!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soon after the couple crew mates and Aaron had transported back to Gadd's lab with the unconscious Luigi and Hatty in tow, the professor tells them to put the two on the floor next to the wall as he gets off his chair and assess their conditions while the crew mates back away to give the professor some breathing space. "Hmm, looks like they got knocked out from <em> something</em>..." When Gadd looks around on the two, all of them spot the syringe on Luigi's leg that was left behind and the professor gently pulls it out from his leg. "Oh my! That's what caused them to get knocked out so quickly."</p><p> </p><p>Looking over the two that were out cold, Kazu looked about and noticed something was missing. "... where's their dog? And that little Boo girl? Where is she?" With a quick scan of the duo, it was clear that there was spectral residue on them from Polterpup with how it shone gold... but it was faded by now. That wasn't good. And Boocille's essence was strong on Luigi, however she wasn't detected. It would seem the poor girl must've used up what energy she had and finally faded...</p><p> </p><p>That was until there was a small grunt from Luigi's pocket. Popping up- <em> oh thank goodness </em> - there she was! She was just... huh. Seems that when a Boo expends too much energy, they become <em> really </em> small! At just five inches in height now, she tried to carry her bow with her, which didn't shrink with her. However, it was much too big and heavy now. "... Ms. Boo..?" "<em>Nngh..! Ah, sorry..! I was trying to... I had to help Luigi with those doctors. They were throwing tranquilizers at him, so... I used a lot of what I had... now I'm a little small.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." While Luigi was unconscious, he heard the ghosts from within his poltergust G-00. Grabbing the vacuum from the green plumber, the professor jams the nozzle to the ghost vault to send them to the extractor device. "I hope these will help Luigi and Hatty to wake up more quickly." Gadd gibbers as he brings the vacuum back to Luigi after emptying it and Kev and Dorchester get spat out in their original, living forms.</p><p> </p><p>Dorchester wobbled out, still in scrubs and his reflector, but appeared <em> far </em> less menacing. "<em>Nuuuh, oi... </em> spinning... feels like the planet is <em> flying </em> off its hinges. ... ... where in the demon seed <em> am </em> --... Kazu? Aaron? Guys! Oh... oh my <em> God </em> ! What happened on the ship... with the ghost and everything... that was <em> real</em>?!" His expression beneath his surgical mask turned grim, realizing what he'd done. "<em>... Jesus Christmas, I drugged our captain and an innocent man!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yes, it was real..." Aaron pointed out to Kev and Dorchester. Gadd notices the two doctors and goes over to them to hand the syringe that he pulled from Luigi. "Looks like a concoction within this, is what knocked Luigi and Hatty out, from what I've analyzed." Gadd shares the information. "If you do have any way of reviving them, I'm more than willing to help you get back to the medical ward lickedy split!" The professor mentioned to them.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah, bollocks! They were injected with propofol: a <em> powerful </em> anesthetic agent often used in sedative surgical procedures. There's a cocktail of medicines I need from the medical bay in order to wake them up after: flumazenil and naloxone. They're anti-opioid drugs that'll stimulate them and get them awake, but they'll be in a bit of a stupor for a while after. It'll be like waking up from surgery. I know <em> where </em> to find those medicines, but I'm... I'm nervous if something might scoop us up again."</p><p> </p><p>"We'll take that risk." Gadd says to the doctors as he gets on his chair and activates a button to turn the pixelator on the two docs and transport them to the medical ward. "Come back in one piece!" Aaron mentions, since there's lots of baddies floating around the ship.</p><p>While inside the lit up medical ward, both Kev and Dorchester hunt to find the medicines to help wake up Hatty and Luigi.</p><p> </p><p>Dorchester began to scour around, hands diving into drawers and cabinets, looking about for the magical two drugs. Gasping, he pulled up one vial of naloxone! "<em> Jackpot </em>! Now where's the other... please tell me there's more?" He felt his heart leaking in his throat, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up.</p><p> </p><p>Kev was also looking for flumazenil since Dorchester found naloxone. "Good job, but I'm having a hard time finding the flumazenil. Do you know where it is, Dorchester?" Kev asked his surgeon as he tried to go through one of the cabinets that has the vials of the medicines needed for surgery. He thought that flumazenil would be in this cabinet, but he's not having any luck spotting it.</p><p> </p><p>Pausing and looking up to the Heavens, Dorchester was trying his best to remember. Flumazenil... liquid solution... <em> ah</em>! "Oh! The vaccine freezer! Lord, I hope it still has power." Luckily, the back-up generator ran for <em> quite </em> some time and kept it going! Just a month left on the label, it was sitting there in the coolness.</p><p> </p><p>Kev stops searching in the cabinet and goes to the vaccine freezer with Dorchester. "Ahh, you found it!" The doctor gently takes the naloxone from the surgeon. "While we're at it, we need to get some surgical needle and thread to help patch up Hatty's head." Kev relays the information as he gives back the naloxone back to Dorchester as he goes to search for the needle and thread. "I just hope that they're not dissolved nor rusted by now..." Luck be on their side - Kev spots the kit with the surgical needle and thread, as well as a couple tools to help sew skin together and properly. "Hope it won't be gruesome once I start it back at that odd lab, and probably would want to do that where no one can see that near the lab..."</p><p> </p><p>"One thing we may need to set up is a little medical base. Especially considering how hurt Hatty looks. That wound on his head needs some <em> serious </em> work, and it likely won't be the last." Filling their scrubs with whatever they could, the two doctors made their way out. Though Dorchester paused them. "<em>Wait- hug the wall, quickly!</em>" Ducking back, a few Boos sped by, cackling and clearly distracted... phew, that was close.</p><p> </p><p>Kev hugs the wall once he heard the boos went by, nervous of getting spotted from them. "Th-that was close..." The doctor whispered as he sees the boos disappear. He continues to find the television along with the surgeon and knocks on the screen, hoping to get Gadd to help transport them back to the lab - which the pixelator activates a few seconds after a couple knocks on the glass screen.</p><p>After Kev and Dorchester had transferred back to the lab, the two immediately go over to Luigi and Hatty to help the two out, but they pick both of them up so they take them out of the lab and set up a smaller med base in the loading docks just outside the lab.</p><p>After setting up the small med base, Dorchester gets to work on fixing Hatty up on his head while he's still out. At the same time, Kev gets ready to administer the medicine to wake up Luigi from his deep slumber, thanks to the anesthetic.</p><p> </p><p>Gently cleaning the wound with an antiseptic, he began the careful process of stitching the wound shut. Now with it cleaned, it was clear it would need a few to prevent scarring. "Thank goodness he's out for this... Hatty <em> always </em> hated needles and stitches. This will keep the wound from reopening. How long has he had this injury?" "<em>A while...</em>" The still tiny Boocille answered. "Darn... well, I can't promise it <em> won't </em> scar, but it'll be <em> less </em> with sutures. Remember to rub the area that you administer the medicine within so it isn't remaining in the muscle tissues. He'll <em> never </em> wake up without medical palpation." This wasn't a mixture you could put <em> directly </em> into the bloodstream, it could prove <em> toxic </em>. It was a slow-release.</p><p> </p><p>After administering the medicines to Luigi to reverse the anesthetic and help wake him, Kev looks back to Dorchester and the tiny Boocille. "Well, at least that we'll be here now, to help fix up any injuries they get when they come back from... Um... What are they really doing, to be exact?" The doctor doesn't know the full details of what is going on, and why the two have different kinds of vacuums strapped to both Luigi's and Hatty's backs.</p><p> </p><p>The tiny ghost hummed and explained it, waving her little hands around. The invasion, the transformation, the kidnapping, Dr. Gadd and Luigi... it was a <em> lot </em> of information. But eventually, it all blended together as she explained. "<em>... a-and so King Boo and Lord Maya still run the ship, but I know we'll be okay! ... a-also, I'm not this small normally. I used a lot of energy to help Mr. Luigi.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Kev scratched his chin to try to gather all the information that Boocille had laid out, then looked back to Luigi that's behind him. "Hmm... With all you said was true, we definitely need to help both Hatty and Luigi when they <em> do </em> get badly injured... That's <em> if </em> they do make it back here in one piece." The doctor sighs, feeling a little pessimistic on the outcome.</p><p> </p><p>After a short while, Luigi finally starts to wake up, though his head is spinning like he's been spun around quickly and didn't let up for quite a while. The green plumber tries to move, but it feels like there's heavy weight on his body. "<em>Ughhh... Wh-where am I..?</em>" Luigi mumbles as he opens his eyes slowly - though still blurry for a few moments, he notices that he's not in the medical ward, but just outside Gadd's lab in the loading dock with the tiny Boocille in front of his face.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Mr. Luigi!</em>" The tiny Boo hugged onto the tip of his nose, her tail wagging excitedly as her sweet giggle resonated much more squeakily. "<em>I thought you weren't going to wake up for a long time! You got knocked out, but the new doctors helped you! You got them and saved them.</em>" Looking over... hey, they <em> did </em> do it, didn't they?</p><p> </p><p>Luigi chuckles softly after feeling Boocille hugging his nose. He struggles to reach Boocille to gently pat her softly with his finger, since she's so small. Kev hears Luigi wake up, "Hey, Mr. Luigi, how are you feeling?" The doc gently asks him. Luigi notices the doctor and sighs heavily, as he couldn't move much while still heavily drugged from the meds. "Not to worry, Mr. Luigi, you'll be able to gain mobility really soon. We just got you back from being knocked out from a sedative..." Kev mentions, "But not to worry, you'll be up and running in a matter of an hour or so. Though, we thank you for rescuing us from being trapped in the ghostly forms." Luigi smiles a bit as he closes his eyes to try to rest and recover, since the dizziness is still hitting him like a truck.</p><p>It didn't take long for Hatty to start waking up after his procedure and getting injected with the 'wake up' meds thanks to Dorchester.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Dorchester was administering the wake-up cocktail to Hatty, hoping <em> that </em> would rouse the sleepy captain. "Come on, buddy... rise and shine."</p><p> </p><p>The poor captain was even <em> worse </em> off, as he was delivered a <em> heavier </em> dose. Coming to, the world around him was dancing like it was in the throws of an acid-rained EDM concert. Everything sounded like it was underwater and his vision was doubled. Eugh... he'd be a little fubar for a while.  <em> ... h-h-h-hhhhhhhHattyyyyy...? ... h-h-h-hhooooooww are y-y-y-yyooou fe-fe-feeelliiiingg-g-g-g...</em>" His senses drew out the words that hit his ears, staring with lacking focus and fuzzy eyes. "<em>Nhuuh...</em>" was all he could muster for now.</p><p> </p><p>After an hour, the dizziness finally wore out from Luigi's head, and was finally able to sit up. "I-I thought that I was a g-goner..." Feeling a little pessimistic himself, he worries about his Polterpup - since he would probably be woken up from the pooch. The plumber holds his forehead with his hand, thanks to his pounding headache while the medicines are still in effect. "Luckily that Professor tried to contact you through that device and Boocille answered, because if she didn't answer at all..." Kev pointed to the GameBoo Advance SP next to Luigi. "It has a GPS in it, to track exactly where you were when the call was answered, thanks to Boocille." Gadd comes over to Luigi and waves to him. "How are you feeling?" The professor asks the plumber. "<em>S-so... I-if it wasn't answered, w-we would h-have been v-vulnerable to K-Kiing B-Boo a-and gotten c-captured...</em>" Luigi frowns, "I-I'm feeling better, but this headache..." The plumber answers Gadd's question. "Don't worry, the headache will subside in a little bit. The meds that we induced to help you wake up is still in effect for now." Kev lets Luigi know about what's happening to him.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille, while still small, lightly held onto Luigi's fingers with a sweet glistening in her eyes. "<em>I wanted to keep you safe, Mr. Luigi. I couldn't keep running and hiding... sometimes the hero needs a hero!</em>" She was absolutely the sweetest thing, even more so by how itty bitty she was. Dorchester couldn't help but smile, seeing the small ghost nestle up to Luigi. "You did an outstanding job protecting Luigi. I think without you, things might've had a far worse outcome. You <em> saved </em> both his, and Hatty's lives."</p><p> </p><p>With a smile, Luigi puts Boocille on his shoulder so she can hug him as much as she wants around his neck. "<em>Y-yeah, I'm in debt to you, for saving me and Mr. Hatty...</em>" Luigi softly spoke to her. "I'll t-try not to use so much of y-your energy, Boocille..." "While I've gotten the two docs out, here's something you might need." The professor gives a key to Luigi, in hopes of finding where it goes- but that actually triggers a memory. Luigi digs out the rolled blueprint map of the ship and hands it over to Gadd. "W-would th-this be of any use..?" The green stache asks, "Oh, yes! I'll get to working on getting digitized to put in your GameBoo Advance SP." Gadd rushes off with the map to help Luigi and Hatty on their adventure.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty dizzily sat up a bit more, rubbing his head. "... wha..?" "Ah- don't scratch that! I just put stitches in it. That wound looked <em> nasty </em> and needed stitchwork." "... I got <em> stitches</em>?" "When you were drugged, I just decided to bang that out." "... w-well, thank you, Dr. Dorchester."</p><p> </p><p>After being able to move more, Luigi gets off of the makeshift bed - which was just a couple crates - and wobbly walks over to Hatty, since his balance hasn't recovered just yet. "<em> H-how are you feeling..? </em>" The green plumber asks the captain.</p><p> </p><p>The poor captain was definitely more wobbly. Sitting up, he bobbed and bowed as though he were rocking, his balance was still swayed and he seemed ataxic. "<em>Shaky... feels like my limbs are jello.</em>" "That'll pass in due time. We'll get you both some saline solution that should clear it from your immediate systems swiftly." "Thank you... thank goodness we have doctors on hand, otherwise I think we'd be in <em> way </em> deeper doodoo." "<em>I'm so glad that you two are okay... I was so worried!</em>" "Boocille, how'd you get so small?" "<em>I used up a bunch of my energy...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi climbs up next to Hatty and sits next to him with a smirk, "I-I'm glad you're okay at least..." "Not to worry, we can get that saline solution situated." Kev replies as he uses the pixelator to get to the medical ward and swiftly comes back with the equipment to flush out the drugs inside both Hatty and Luigi's systems. After the two had gotten hooked up with the saline solution, Luigi and Hatty had started to feel <em> much </em> better and more alert, as well as not feeling they've been in a spinner at high speed. "Phew... Feeling much better." The Italian plumber felt relieved, though Dorchester couldn't help but notice the bandage on Luigi's side.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah, headache's gone..~" "... Mr. Luigi, what happened to your side?" The doctor noticed, coming in closer. "Oh... a knife happened. Let's say that knives to a ghost fight are not what a fair combination makes." "Goodness gracious. Does it still hurt, or sting at all?" Dorchester was the more sympathetic doctor, targeting pain relief prior to initial treatment.</p><p> </p><p>"H-heh heh, Gadd tried to help patch it up with one of his wacky inventions, but I-a guess it didn't go so well..." Luigi doesn't like pain, but when he has-to fight, he doesn't try to focus on it. "It still hurts a little bit." The plumber relays the information as he tries not to look at it, since the bandage is a little bit of blood soaking through it and wasn't sewn properly. Looks like Luigi needs some stitches as well, but on his side. "Looks like you need stitches as well." Kev answers as he gently peels off the bloodied patch to see the flesh wound.</p><p> </p><p>As they were pulled off, the wound was gently cleaned and given a small injection of pain blockers. A few stitches, and he was as good as new! No longer bleeding and not as susceptible to infections. "... thank you <em> both </em> for saving us. I'm <em> so </em> sorry that we hurt either of you..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi winces when the pain blockers were injected as he looks away, not wanting to see what they're doing to his wound. After hearing that they're done, he looks back at the wound and notices that it's patched up with a new and clean bandage. "Th-thank you..." He places his hand gently on the bandage, and sighs heavily that the pain is finally gone. "I-it's no problem..." Luigi sulks a bit, "<em>I just... miss my bro...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty, turning to Luigi, gently wrapped his arms about his new friend and gave him a tender hug. "... I swear to you, you'll have him at your side again. I'll not rest until he's freed and you both are safely back home again."</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty had cheered Luigi up once more, the two had set off to rescue more of the crew as well as hoping to find at least one of the paintings. Of course, Gadd had updated the GameBoo Advance SP to have the map loaded and can help know where exactly they're at, as well as where their next key goes when they get one.</p><p>Though, Hatty knows more of the ship in and out than the map itself, as Luigi has given the key he got from the professor. "H-hey, Mr. Hatty... Have you've e-ever had... P-problems with your bro b-before..?" He quietly asks, as they enter into another section of the ship as another lightning strike happens, which makes the plumber jump and hide behind the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"Mm? Problems?" Hatty thought for a bit before answering. "... well, back when we were wee lads, he was older than myself. There <em> was </em> a time where we were a bit... distant. He was changing from a boy to a man, and was <em> exceptionally </em> moody. He wasn't sure how he felt during some days, not sure <em> why </em> he felt the way he did, and often became angered. It was confusing for me, since I was so much younger than him. We're eight years apart, so I was just six when he started to become a man. From my best friend to... practically a total stranger and nearly an enemy. It caused some... unrest for a while. At first, for no cause or reason, but then there was a reason every other day. It was a nasty time... and it took <em> years </em> to rebuild our relationship. That's... perhaps the <em> biggest </em> problem we've ever had. Apart from professional squabbles, things settled for a while after." <em> Yikes </em>. That was an unfortunate tale... must be a touch awkward to be so much younger than his brother.</p><p> </p><p>"W-well... At least e-everything worked out in the end..." Gee, Hatty's brother being eight years apart, that was a surprise to Luigi. "M-my bro is my twin, and h-he's way more popular th-than I am, th-thanks to him b-being in much more adventures than I would... I-it's like I'm a sh-shadow to him and almost no one even r-remembers my name..." Boy, that made Luigi felt depressed after saying that about himself.</p><p> </p><p>"... though, you <em> save </em> your brother and the kingdom from something not even <em> they </em> could put an end to. I'm sure that you deserve <em> just </em> as much recognition as your brother does. Irrespective of who's older or younger, age does not define importance. You are just as vital as your brother clad in red. If you've saved him <em> many </em> times before, then you deserve equal recognition and people knowing your name at the drop of a pin. You've saved <em> me </em>... and I will always remember your name until the day I leave this Earth."</p><p> </p><p>"Th-thanks..." The plumber couldn't help but smirk a bit, as they continue on to a tiny pantry to where the next key goes to... Which is strange, since why would there be a key for the tiny pantry? Who knows.</p><p>Just as when Hatty was about to unlock the door to the pantry, the spectral gates came down in front of them and blocked them off again. "<em>Wh-what n-now..?</em>" Luigi shakingly whispers. It's getting obvious that each time they reach their destination, the ghosts want to hinder their progress in every way they could on the ship.</p><p> </p><p>Around them, something... far more <em> odd </em> appears. From the floor, arose a <em> massive </em> figure. Pure <em> black </em> , like Tenebrae, but was different. An Egyptian parody of death. The large, dog-headed figure pointed at the two with snarling teeth, barking a warning. "<em>Stay back, mortals. You are trespassing hallowed ground. Turn and leave now, or suffer my wrath.</em>" Hatty attempted to use the flash of his device on the massive Anubis creature, but it didn't flinch! This... this wasn't good... this wasn't even <em> the </em> ghost, this was just a harbinger! Such as that, the massive figure sank back down with <em> several </em> small, mummified ghosts appearing before them with glistering rubies for eyes. "<em>Oh dear!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi shakes in fear from the Anubis creature, though when it sinks into the floor and the mummified ghosts come out from the shadow, the plumber tries to flash the light at the mummied ghosts to help get them blinded at least. Once the mummied ghosts try to shield themselves, they try to run at them while having their face covered. Luigi quickly moves out of the way for them to run into the wall to get them vulnerable when one <em> knot </em> of the wrappings get exposed. The green stache rushes over to one of the knocked down mummied ghosts and uses his vacuum to grab the knot and yanks hard, making the ghost spin in high speed and the wrappings fall off, exposing the ghost.</p><p> </p><p>This rushdown technique worked well, and with Hatty as back-up with catching the ghost, these tiny mummies were vanquished and the gates lowered! Just as the key flew to the door and unlocked it, Hatty furrowed his brow. "... strange. I don't remember there being a tiny door here. This looks <em> new</em>."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-you d-don't..?" Luigi whispers, "I-I-a thought you knew p-pretty much e-everything o-on the ship..." Gee, putting the expectations on Hatty a little too high, but probably had forgotten about the pantry closet.</p><p>Just as when the captain opens the door, it wasn't the pantry, but a portal! The portal's vacuum suction caught them off guard and tried to suck in both Luigi and Hatty in. "<em>OHHhhh nooo!!</em>" Though, the green plumber tries to react quickly by sticking to the wall with the plunger opposite of the portal and sucks up the knot on the plunger with the vacuum nozzle to keep himself from getting sucked in. While holding onto the nozzle handle with one hand, Luigi holds Hatty's arm with the other. "H-hold on!"</p><p> </p><p>Feeling himself being drawn forward, his feet scrambled to keep on the ground as his body was pulled up into the air. His legs were sucked in as his fingers clutched the rotted boards beneath, drawn into the violent vortex of glowing energy! "<em>YAAAAGGHH!</em>" Before he could be ripped violently into the new world, Luigi clutched his arm with the aid of the plunger, keeping him anchored. "<em>Luigi!! I don't think that plunger will last forever! Don't put yourself on the line for me like this, let go! Otherwise we'll both get sucked in! It's not worth it!</em>" He was <em> willing </em> to sacrifice himself and be thrown into whatever horrifying world existed beyond that swirled mass of spectral energy.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>N-no... I'm not letting go!!</em>" Luigi tries to pull Hatty further away from the door, since he doesn't want to lose the captain. But before Luigi could do much more, the vortex was too strong for the plunger to keep on the wall as it detached itself from it, sending both Luigi and Hatty into the vortex. As they both screamed out in fear and got pulled in completely into the portal, the door closed itself behind and locked itself... Oh no, how would they escape? If they can... </p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the portal, Luigi and Hatty got spat out and crash landed onto the ground. The portal disappears as the two regain their senses and surroundings of where they are.</p><p>"<em>Uhhh... Where are we..?</em>" Luigi mutters, feeling dizzy from the crash landing but shakes it off. Once his eyes get into focus, he realizes of where they are - they're in a pocket dimension, but in a small ancient underground. When a loud lightning strike shows just outside the pocket dimension, he sees lots of bones and tombs all around which made Luigi so scared, he has a hard time moving as his body shakes in fear with a loud gulp in his throat. " <em> Oohhh nnnoooo.... </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Being <em> ripped </em> from one reality to another, Hatty was caught in a violent tail spin as he plummeted with Luigi into this pocket dimension as well. Thrown into the thicket ground beneath them, he felt the aggravating thorns and prickers scratching his sides and back as he pulled himself up to see where they were. "... w-where ever we are, it's <em> not </em> good." Able to get to his feet faster, the captain stumbled a few steps before feeling something <em> grip </em> his ankle. Gasping out and looking down, a <em> skeleton </em> was tearing its way from the dirt, encasing it. On reflex, he kicks the skull way, causing it to bounce chaotically (if not humorously) away. This caused the body to sink back down much like a weight. Turning, he offered a hand to Luigi to help him up. "L-let's get off these horrible grounds before something <em> creepier </em> happens..!"</p><p> </p><p>With the help of Hatty, Luigi gets up from the ground while feeling scared while agreeing with the captain. "<em> I-I hope s-so... </em> " As Luigi looks around to hope to find an escape with his flashlight, all he sees are several tombs all around, as well as holes in all sides of the walls that have skeletons inside some of them. Boy, this place would freak even the most toughened person out, which didn't help the Italian plumber from trembling in fear. The ghost skeletons as well as the real skeletons come to life as they come after Hatty and Luigi - which made Luigi scream out and <em> try </em> to hide behind the captain, but it's hard to do so when they're coming from all sides. "<em>Ohhh nnooo... Th-they're c-coming...</em>" Feeling nervous, he tries to flash his light to the ghost skeletons at least, since they're still vulnerable from the light like most other ghosts.</p><p> </p><p>Charging up his own flash attack, he stuns the skeletons before taking Luigi by the wrist and making a <em> mad dash </em> to a <em> huge </em> mausoleum. Managing to shoulder past these calcified lesions of the undead, he managed to dart his way to the huge entombment. Slamming the large, stone door behind them kept the skeletons out... though this was no <em> ordinary </em> tomb. There was a hallway <em> within </em> that lead down into a crypt that spun down into the dirt. "... oh <em> lord</em>, this is going to lead to somewhere creepy. It's like a turducken of <em> terror</em>. ... suppose it's better than battling an <em> army </em> out there. At least we can find where this leads."</p><p> </p><p>Well, when Hatty and Luigi went through the stone door and closed behind them, there were noises coming from the darkened hallway. The Italian plumber shines the light down the hallway, showing lots of big spiders and centipedes crawling around, as well as big spider webs covering most of the hallways. "<em>Th-this i-isn't a-any b-b-better...</em>" Luigi gulps as he cautiously and slowly continues down the hallways. He <em> really </em> doesn't like spiders in particular, and centipedes don't make it any easier- they're just as bad as spiders.</p><p> </p><p>"I'll take the lead and brave the spider webs. Stay close behind me, we don't want to get separated down there." Walking forward with Luigi close by, Hatty's flashlight was broadened to show a greater radius rather than focus on one point. It was <em> horribly </em> dark down here with cobwebs as thick as kerchiefs. Being the head of the search, the captain ended up walking face first into an <em> incredibly </em> thick web, spitting out and pulling it from his face. " <em> Good lord..! </em> Pfft-- pfftbbt--! Ew, it's so sticky..."</p><p> </p><p>The green plumber sucks up some of the small webs around them, though seeing the spiders and the centipedes try to attack the two, Luigi squeaks as he sucks them up before being able to get close. But while the two were busy, a much larger spider came from above in the darkness. Once the green stache looks up with the flashlight, the huge spider attacks by spraying the sticky web onto Luigi, having the sticky web capture him quickly.</p><p>Of course, once Hatty turns around to Luigi, the plumber had seemingly <em> vanished</em>... But not really, Luigi was just struggling to get free from the web wrapped around him as the huge spider was trying to take him away. "<em>MMMmmpppphhhh!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>What the--? </em> " Hatty looked frantically about, wondering where his friend went. "<em>Luigi?!</em>" He followed the sound of an... <em> awful </em> skittering. Shining his flashlight, he managed to discover that <em> huge </em> arachnid preparing to make a meal of the man! With a gasp, he tried to flash the spider into submission... but all he managed to do was piss her off as she turned with drooling mandibles and glowing eyes staring angrily at him. "<em>... oh, poopy.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty tries to help Luigi, the green plumber struggles to get free, but the sticky web is making it almost impossible to escape. If only something <em> sharp </em> or <em> fiery </em> could help him, but there's no fire around. What would the captain do?</p><p>At least there's a small dagger nearby, but it was buried in a bunch of cobwebs while the huge arachnid is dragging the tied up Luigi away, deeper to the hallway. Better make it fast, before the spider takes him away into a different room.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty saw that huge thing starting to walk backwards, Luigi wrapped in its claws... oh, no!! He wasn't about to let Luigi become spider chow!! Looking about, Hatty saw the glimmer of silver before turning on the vacuum at full power. Drawing the thick webs in quickly, he pulled the small blade free and spun it in his hand. Running forward, fearing for the safety of his dearest friend, he plunged the blade into the belly of the massive spider without a second thought! The huge thing shrieked out before falling. It spasmed and shook before slowly, it bled out and died.</p><p> </p><p>Turning the poltergust onto Luigi, Hatty turned the power down to a lower setting, gently getting the webs off of the plumber before <em> profusely </em> apologizing. "<em>I am so sorry, Mr. Luigi! Oh, good lord, my overzealousness has gotten you into trouble! I thought coming in here would be the safest bet, but I nearly </em> <b> <em>killed</em> </b> <em> you!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the sticky web sucked off of him, Luigi brushes the rest of the sticky web off. "<em>I-it's okay, a-at least y-you've helped f-free me...</em>" He softly chuckles as the plumber tries to stand up, though the sticky web was still on his butt and couldn't stand without help. "<em>Uhhh... A little help..?</em>" He asks for Hatty as the green stache keeps trying to get up.</p><p>Then Luigi remembers the burst function on his poltergust G-00 and activates it, shooting himself off of the floor and unsticks himself. "<em>WHOAA!!</em>" After that, Luigi lands on his feet again and brushes off the last of the sticky web. "There we go."</p><p> </p><p>"Oh gosh-!" Hatty stood back so that he wasn't blasted backwards, seeing Luigi puff himself up into the air. "... can <em> my </em> machine do that? I didn't know it could propel either of us upwards!" He seemed amazed by that, looking at his machine and looking about for some sort of device that could push him up into the skies. Hmm... no such button existed. Just the standard suction and reverse lever.</p><p> </p><p>"W-well, you could ask Gadd wh-when we get back somehow, to add that f-function to yours, since that one is the older model without one." Luigi mentions, as he continues on while trying to vacuum all of the webs, as well as trying to maneuver away from the dead arachnid that's on the floor as well as the other spiders and centipedes.</p><p>Once getting to the end of the hallway, Luigi uses his might to open the stone door, but cautiously looks around to make sure no traps are around. "<em>H-hello..?</em>" Luigi quietly mutters out, as he spots a ghost of one of the crew mates at the end of the large room, facing away from the door and playing with a small centipede in his hand. "<em>I'm glad you've finally made it.</em>" The ghost laughs as he turns around, showing his <em> face</em>. His face looks like a spider!</p><p>Luigi hides behind Hatty and quivers after the two have gotten inside the room and the door closes behind them. He doesn't know who this ghost is, but Hatty surely would know and wonders what the heck the spider-like head is about.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling the door behind them within this crypt slam <em> shut</em>, Hatty rose up the nozzle of his poltergust with a scowl. "<em>Keep back, Centipete! I don't want to fight you! You remember me, I'm your captain!</em>" He hoped that his words could bring <em> some </em> recognition to the arachnid crew member. "<em>You halted every infestation on the ship, you have to remember that!</em>" He gasped, stepping back to dodge a <em> paralyzing </em> spray of toxins towards him, much like an angered hundred-legger. "<em>... Centipete...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Peh! I don't take orders from you, silly captain! King Boo and Lord Maya are my </em> <b> <em>captains</em> </b> <em> now~</em>" Centipete laughs as he unleashes lots of spiders and centipedes at Luigi and Hatty - so much in fact, it covers the floors and walls of the crypt as well as spiders coming from the ceiling with their web strings - though these creatures were see-through, as if they're ghosts of the creatures themselves.</p><p>Luigi jumps as loads of the ghostly creatures come after them and charge right at him and Hatty, but he doesn't hesitate to try to suck them all up as fast as he can.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was back to back with Luigi, urging the other to start to walk sideways, spinning slowly as the horde is sucked into the seemingly endless vacuum. "<em>Ooh God oh God oh lord--</em>" The captain whimpered out, seeing how close the seemingly endless crowd of spiders continued on! "<em>They're not stopping! What should we do?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that Hatty is sucking up the ghostly creatures, the ghost centipedes along with the ghost spiders keep coming and the vacuum nozzle wasn't enough - since a few got onto him and shrieks. Though he clicks the burst function to get the creatures off of him as he continues to suck the ones up.</p><p>After a little bit, the spiders and centipedes change their direction and go towards Centipete. With the special centipede in the ghostly crew mate's hand, he uses it to activate a special ability to recall all the creatures to him and covers the ghost completely. The creatures start to form themselves into a large, ghostly centipede.</p><p>Once the form of the large centipede has completed, the ghostly creature roars loudly at the two- which Luigi screams out in fear and feels so scared. The ghostly centipede quickly digs into the ground and hides just underground to attack the two from beneath as a surprise attack.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling the spiders off of his face with a few <em> burrowing </em> their fangs into his cheeks and hooking to his visage, Hatty whined frantically with blood and rounds now decorating his cheeks. Looking over at seeing them jump off his face and over to Centipete, his stomach <em> dropped </em> when he saw the crew mate change into that <em> horrific </em> abomination. Feeling the floor of the crypt shaking, Hatty <em> knew </em> something bad was about to happen. "<em>Quick, we have to get to higher ground!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>W-watch out!!</em>" Once Luigi feels the ground moving, he quickly grabs Hatty's arm and moves out of the way before the large centipede comes out of the ground and tries to grab them with a large roar. Once the centipede notices that he missed, he quickly digs back down underground to try to find the two again. While trying to keep running around on the ground, Luigi tries to think of <em> something </em> in hopes to get Centipete to his original ghost form... But how?</p><p> </p><p>The crypt ahead of them weaved and spiraled, eventually leading up through a busted set of broken cellar doors. This led up into something likely <em> worse </em> : a haunted castle. The crypt was an old connection, a private catacomb for what seemed to be under ownership in its glory days by a rich family to preserve their dead. Now, the place was rotted and was <em> far </em> horribly decayed from the inside. "... oh, good lord, does the madness <em> end </em>?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt scared when he got into the haunted castle part of the pocket dimension, but feeling the ground moving and getting closer, he couldn't help but to keep running along with the captain. But, Celtipete had other ideas and went in front of the two and burrows out from the ground in front of the green plumber and the captain and quickly snatches Luigi with many of his large limbs. "<b><em>EEK!!</em> </b> <em> L-let go!!</em>" As Luigi tries to get free, Centipete didn't hesitate to try to <em> bite </em> onto the green plumber's neck with his ghostly mandibles, but the green stache had a trick up his sleeve; he unleashes the burst on his poltergust to shake himself off - which thankfully, it was successful and falls back onto the ground. "OOF! Ow..."</p><p>Centipete gets enraged and digs back down into the ground below and tries again, hoping to get Hatty instead.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>LUIGI!!</em>" Hatty cried out, rushing forward to collect his friend and make a break for it... sadly, his trail was predictable and it was <em> punished hard </em> . Trying to rush to his friend's aid, Hatty was <em> blindsided </em> with a crippling attack, being practically <em> ran </em> over by steel-hard carapace chitin and rolled over by <em> insanely </em> sharp limbs that dug against him. He cried out in pain, being tumbled about before falling limp to the floor. Pulling over his poltergust, he tried to turn on the suction, but it hissed awkwardly... <em> damn</em>! He was smarter- he cut the hose to his device!! Seeing the massive spectral insect coming towards him, Hatty feared this would be his <em> last</em>. Closing his eyes, he whimpered with his body tensing... this was it, he was going to be torn from his flesh, only this time, for <em> good</em>. ... that was until the massive insect was halted by the sound of a plunger's sticking.</p><p> </p><p>After seeing that Hatty was in trouble, he quickly launched the plunger at Centipete's tail, though he had-to be careful with the two sharp legs on the back as he sucked up the knot on the plunder to keep the large ghostly creature at bay. "<em>N-nnoo... N-not th-this t-time..!!</em>" With all of his strength, he yanks the plunger to make the large creature and slams Centipete on the other side of him - making the large creature explode into the smaller, ghostly spiders and centipedes as Centipete in his original ghost form pops out from the center.</p><p>"<em>Grrr... You won't get away with this!!</em>" With Centipete exposed, he charges at Luigi in full force, but the green plumber was wise enough to flash his strobe light at him to stun the guy. "<em>ACK!! HOW DARE YOU!!</em>" With his seven eyes, it was easier to stun him briefly. "I-I'll st-stop you..!!" With his fight or flight mode activated, he decides to fight and uses his vacuum nozzle to grab a hold of Centipete's tail. "<em>AAAGGHHHGGHH UNHAND ME!!</em>" The ghost crew mate struggles to get free when Luigi keep trying to pull him in as he gets pulled away. But, the resistance was too strong and the green plumber lost his grip, falling back onto the ground. "Owie..." Luigi gets up and shakes his head just as Centipete gets the ghostly creatures to regroup onto the ghost crew mate to reform the large centipede - this time, a little more <em> red </em> and slightly stronger before digging back underground once more.</p><p> </p><p>Coughing out from the pain of being <em> covered </em> in scratches, it looked like dear Hatty lost a fight with a paper shredder! His clothes- one a proud suit with lovely dress pants- were now hanging off him in shameful, bloodied ribbons. Pulling himself up, he examined the cord- which was nearly in <em> two </em> ! "<em>Ugh--! </em> Blast..! He's cut the hose..!" Looking up, he was <em> mortified </em> to see the form of Centipete regrouping his awful insects back into the bulbous, armored form. "<em>No no no, come on..! Please, don't do this now..!</em>" He panicked, trying to stick the two ends woefully together.</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty was trying to reattach the hose, Luigi was trying to guard the captain on the ground, while feeling the ground shake getting stronger by the second. The green plumber looks around on the ground, wondering where Centipete would come out next. "<em>N-need to not move... M-maybe would kn-know wh-where y-you are...</em>" Luigi informs, though he moves himself in hopes to keep Centipete from getting to Hatty and get him instead.</p><p>The plan worked, and Centipete focuses on the one that is moving on the ground. Once Luigi spotted where Centipete was, he ran down the hallway to help get farther away from Hatty so that the captain was safe... But it didn't last long, since Centipete was <em> fast</em>, and launched Luigi up from off the ground and landed onto the ground just in front of the large, ghostly creature. "<em>OOF! Owie...</em>" With a loud roar, Centipete grabs Luigi once more with his large limbs once the green plumber is on the ground and this time, he doesn't hesitate to <em> bite </em> onto his neck, draining his life energy from within his soul to help the creature recover. "<em>ACK!! L-let g-go...</em>" The green stache starts to feel weaker from his life force being drained <em> slowly </em> while struggling to get free. "<em>H-Hatty... H-help...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Spotting Luigi being <em> slammed </em> down by the awful centipede and seeing his very <em> life </em> being sapped from him, he felt <em> helpless</em>... powerless to make it stop! That was until something <em> pulled </em> on the hose, reconnecting it! Oh, thank God! Pushing through the pain, he turned the suction up to Centipete's face... with fortitude and vigor, he was forcing the mask off from its snaps yet couldn't get it off! Within that time, Hatty noticed a small glimmer of gold. Reacting on merely the animalistic, he trained the vacuum onto what shone beautifully in the dark... some sort of <em> gold centipede </em> ? It writhed and wriggled, contorting wildly... until it was harshly sucked from the hive minded body and <em> exploded </em> into a plume of rings that danced about the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Once the 'mask' and the gold centipede was pulled off of the large ghostly centipede, it exploded into lots of little ghost spiders and centipedes and they all scurry away as the original ghost form Centipete exposed and freed Luigi from his grasp. He growls as he generates a new 'mask' and puts it on. "<em>You won't get away with this!</em>" He goes invisible and floats away, hoping to find a way to form that large centipede once again since his favorite gold centipede had been sucked away inside Hatty's poltergust.</p><p>After Luigi was freed, he felt weakened from the attack and struggled to get up while his breathing was heavy. Looks like he needs <em> something </em> to regain his strength as his heart is racing and clutching his chest after he finally sits up and on his knees. "<em>I-I th-thought I-I-a wasn't...</em>" Luigi pants while feeling a little bit of sweat coming down his face, felt like his very <em> soul </em> was being sucked away from his body if Hatty didn't intervene quickly.</p><p> </p><p>Dropping down, the captain saw how Luigi looked <em> beyond </em> horrifically drained. He scrambled his mind for answers, having no clue what to do! Pulling Luigi aside and trying his best to get him away from the carnage, he looked about the chaos of fallen coins, riches and... what was that? Some... sort of floating, misty heart? Coming close to it, Hatty touched it and it <em> vanished </em> ! In that instant, he felt <em> stronger </em> . While not healed, it helped him regain his strength. Rushing about visually, he found <em> another </em>! Maybe this would be a temporary remedy to this weakening effect?</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, the second misty heart bounces towards the green plumber and without realizing, he absorbs the heart - which helps him regain some of his strength and feels that his heart won't leap out from his chest. "<em>M-mamma mia...</em>" With a deep breath, he gets up and goes over to Hatty. "Th-thank you, Mr. Hatty..." The green plumber says to the captain as he takes his cap off to wipe the sweat off before putting it back on.</p><p> </p><p>"Goodness <em> gracious </em> , are you alright, Mr. Luigi?! That was <em> awful</em>! He... he... he nearly... nearly <em> sucked </em> you dry like a space food packet!" The look on his face told it all: <em> absolute horror </em> ! He'd never seen something so gory and traumatic before in his <em> days </em> , that one of his dearest friends nearly drained Luigi <em> dry </em> of his very life force!</p><p> </p><p>"I-I'll be okay f-for now..." Luigi sighs heavily as he tries to calm down with a slight smirk. But, that smirk didn't last as a loud roar shakes the entire castle tower. The shaking had made Luigi lose his balance and fall to his butt. "<em>Wh-what was that?!</em>" After the shaking has stopped, he gets back up and shakes his head a bit.</p><p>Uh oh... Looks like that Centipete wasn't finished yet! Though, where would he be now? Though, it sounded like it was from the top of the castle tower.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing the roar and looking up, Hatty noticed how the paintings on the walls shook and how each hanging lighting fixture trembled. It hit him: that thing was going to bury down towards the Earth. "<em>Luigi, quick- hug the opposite wall!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he gets to the said wall, as he realizes, if Centipete is going to collapse the castle tower as another loud roar shakes the tower once more, it's best to actually get out of the tower as the green plumber looks to try to find a way out. "Mr. Hatty! W-we need to find a-a way out, w-we c-can't stay inside!" He spoke over the loud roar, as pieces of the ceiling and walls started to collapse, as well as a few lighting fixtures fell and crashed onto the ground below.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah-- t-the front door!" Rushing forward, Hatty tried at the massive wood double doors, but was met with clear resistance. "<em>They're bolted shut!!</em>" Struggling, even using the vacuum, it did <em> nothing</em>. They were stuck! Do they risk going back down into the crypt and risking an attack from all directions, or perhaps there was another way out?</p><p> </p><p>While the walls and ceiling keep collapsing with repeated roars throughout the tower, Luigi spots a wooden barrel next to a large window that leads outside and inches closer to it while avoiding the collapsed debris that kept coming down. Once the plumber had reached the destination carefully, he plungered the barrel, then hurled it over him to get it to crash into the window, shattering it and leaving a passageway open to the outside. "Over here!" He calls out to Hatty as he waits for the captain to come over and get out before the Italian plumber.</p><p> </p><p>Hurrying over to the plumber's position, Hatty carefully urged Luigi first. "<em>You go first! You've done so much, you should be the first man out, I want to ensure you get out of this pit first.</em>" He was <em> insistent</em>, coaxing the plumber through the passage before himself.</p><p> </p><p>With another loud roar, the walls and ceiling collapses close by, which made both Luigi and Hatty leap out of the window at the same time out of fear of the debris striking them and pinning them to the ground. It took just a few seconds more for the tower to finally collapse completely. Luckily the two dodged a bullet, for now...</p><p> </p><p>After the two had gotten outside, they looked around to notice that all around except for the ground itself under them, surrounded in a void that they couldn't escape from whatsoever, thanks to being in a pocket dimension. Centipete comes out from the ground from under the debris in his massive ghostly centipede form; this time in a ghostly armor that shined silver and gold while the void is slowly closing in, as if the pocket dimension is starting to collapse in on itself.</p><p>Uh oh, looks like Hatty and Luigi don't have much time left to capture Centipete and get out of the dimension before it collapses and seals them in as Luigi notices that the void is coming in on them. "<em>Uhhh Ohhhh...</em>" The plumber looks up to Hatty before seeing Centipete in the center of the rubble, ready to fight against the two. Luigi knows what to do next, as he charges forward to try to fight him, though feeling scared of getting hit or snagged onto the large creature again.</p><p> </p><p>Staring up in terror as the very world about them crumbled, Hatty watched as his old friend reared up for an attack. Then, the glistening of his mask urged his mind to focus on <em> that </em> . Of course, that must've been the source of his power! Holding his device up, he was prepared to capture this fiend and make a hasty escape. " <em> Don't let me fail this time. </em>" The captain spoke softly to the heavens, reading himself for a fight.</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi and Hatty are in range, Centipete dives into the ground, having the ground rumble around both of them. Luigi had-to think of something <em> quick </em> before the large centipede. "<em>L-let's split up... C-centipete w-won't be able t-to f-focus on b-both of us, w-while one of us c-can be a d-distraction t-to the other...</em>" Luigi instructs as he goes to one side of the rubble so that Hatty can go to the other side, so that Centipete would get confused of which to get first.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty rushes over onto a rocky outcrop that was formerly overlooked by the castle. Raising his arms, he began to whoop and holler. "<em>Hey, woop woop woop! Bug boy!! Come and get me, you chitin-wearing coward! I'm fighting you and I don't even have an exoskeleton, you want to hide beneath nasty buggy bone armor! Nahnah-nahnahnah-nah!</em>" Welp. That was <em> definitely </em> distracting, and would likely land Hatty in getting spanked (metaphorically speaking, that is).</p><p> </p><p>That alone, Centipete hearing Hatty from underground, he doesn't hesitate to go after the captain while enraged. Once getting close to him, the large centipede burrows out from right under the debris where Hatty is standing and lunges at him with his limbs and mandibles to try to snatch Hatty while he's down - but wasn't successful, thanks to <em> something </em> landing on his tail and getting pulled back.</p><p>While Centipete was above ground and distracted, Luigi sneaks around as minimal moves on the ground as possible, by tiptoeing to the large creature. Once in range, the green plumber launches the plunger on Centipete's tail end and sucks up the knot. "<em>N-not th-this t-time..!!</em>" Luigi quickly yanks Centipete over himself and crashes him on the other side, knocking some of the gold and silver armor off of the large centipede. Of course, that makes Centipete more angry and burrows down underground again.</p><p> </p><p>"Excellent work, Luigi!! Rush, switch, we'll keep confusing him!" Hatty hopped up on his toes, he and Luigi switching about and furthering the distraction to keep Centipete enraged and focused on him. "<em>Hey, Centipete! I bet you can't get me, you're too big, bulky and slow, you big dumb bug! You stink! You're bald!</em>" Of course, he'd apologize for all of this afterwards, but he wanted to make sure Centi stayed <em> pissed </em> at him enough to continue the assault towards him. Though, he wasn't anticipating <em> just </em> how angry he might've made the specter...</p><p> </p><p>While Centipete is currently underground, Luigi nods as he goes to hide and keep himself quiet and not to move so that the large creature doesn't detect the plumber. But, Luigi couldn't help but quiver, which could help Centipete track him down instead of Hatty. Centipete felt the vibrations from Luigi, which in turn, hunts the green plumber down and ignores Hatty's insults to him, since it's best to focus on the one who actually attacked him instead of focusing on the distraction.</p><p>The rumbling underground gets closer to Luigi, which made the green plumber realize that his quivering is helping him hone in on his location and quickly bolts out of his hiding spot and runs around the debris in hopes to not get hit. "<b><em>WWAAAAAHHHHHH!!</em></b>" Luigi screams out just as Centipete burrows from underground, knocking the plumber to the ground and lunges at him with a loud, thundering roar without hesitation. Though, since Centipete was focusing on Luigi, Hatty was ignored - which prompted the captain to get to the large centipede from behind.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the massive bug burrowing towards his friend, Hatty grit his teeth in a bitter scowl before training his vacuum at <em> full </em> power on one of the legs. Feeling the <em> very </em> world about to collapse around him and knowing his new friend could be put in jeopardy, he wasn't about to allow that! Training it heavily, he managed to pull that giant insect off course and pull the crew member towards himself. Catching one of those sharp legs, Hatty was <em> very </em> close to having a date with <em> disaster </em> as the sharp chitin swung and swiped at him. Although at the hinds, he knew that the massive arachnid could rear back and <em> bite </em> his head clean off of its snaps!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I won't let you hurt my new friend!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once Hatty had snagged one of Centipete's hind legs with the vacuum, he struggles to pull his leg out from the vacuum before the captain decides to do what Luigi did earlier - throw him over himself and slam on the other side, knocking all of the armor off of him and his regular exoskeleton exposed. Even more enraged, his hind leg pops out from after being slammed to the ground and burrows into the ground once more. During that time, the void shrinks even more, leaving the surface area half the size it was before. The whole pocket dimension starts to shake, as time is not on their side and is running out! Luigi stands up and shakes his head after face planting onto the ground, though the violent shaking makes both him and Hatty lose their balance and fall back on their butts. "OOF!" Looking up, he sees the void getting closer, and starts to worry and panic. "<em>Ohh no... W-we don't h-have m-much t-time left...</em>" Luigi gulps as the shaking stops and is able to get back up again.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling himself from the dirt, Hatty saw the very <em> sky </em> becoming very close to hand's reach. "<em>We need to make this last one count for everything we have! We'll need to make this... perfect!</em>" They had to <em> both </em> slam Centipete into the ground and <em> snap </em> his external skeleton off before this whole place swallowed them whole!</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi gets up from the ground, he nods as they both go and try to get Centipete to come out from the ground as soon as they can, since their time is limited. If only Luigi still had his Gooigi buddy, this would have been a cakewalk, but he doesn't have him this time around, and would need to think of a strategy and <em> fast</em>.</p><p>To their surprise, Centipete was taking his time being underground and trying to decide which to target first, which is confusing both Hatty and Luigi of where the large centipede is going first. After a bit, Centipete decides to track onto Hatty and knocks him up in the air and spits out lots of spiders and centipedes from his mouth at him. At the same time, Luigi gets hit from his tail and gets flown a little ways away, since the two were still a little close to one another. Whoops...</p><p>"WWWAAAHHH!!" Luigi screams out after being hit and tumbles all the way to the edge, where the void has gotten <em> centimeters </em> from the green plumber. Luckily he didn't get punted <em> into </em> the void. Once Luigi realizes where's at and shakes his head, he felt a tiny bit of his clothing dissolve away into nothingness - making him quickly gets away from the edge of the void and goes back to help Hatty out.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty went <em> flying </em> through the air like a bit of leaf litter, close to that fade in the air... it managed to tear away at his ascot, leaving it in ribbons before he felt himself <em> swarmed </em> with insects and spiders. "<em>OH GOD IN HEAVEN, GET THEM OFF OF ME!</em>" He squirmed in place before he plummeted back to Earth with a <em> sickening </em> smack. Falling completely still, one wouldn't be blamed for thinking the man was <em> just </em> murdered.</p><p> </p><p>Laying down, he felt the squirming of insects on him as Centipete's head came dangerously close to his own, looking ready to take a massive chunk out of him. Staying still and silent as the massive insect approached, Hatty suddenly reared up with the nozzle, turning it up as <em> high </em> as it could go before managing to catch part of the mask. While it wasn't coming <em> undone </em> , it was caught on Hatty's machine. "<em>Luigi, get his back legs! We can slam him down with both of our mights! We need to do this, now!</em>" Shambling up, his adrenaline was pumping, unaware of how injured he may very well be.</p><p> </p><p>While Centipete was distracted to try to keep his mask on, Luigi nods once he gets to Centipete from behind, switching to the vacuum nozzle and suck up one of the large centipde's long, hind legs. "<em>Ah ha, g-gotcha!</em>" The green plumber yanks Centipete as hard as he could, but the large creature gets wise and clamps himself to the ground with his many limbs- which made it much harder to lift him up like the last times they did. "<em>Mr. Hatty... H-hurry..!!</em>" Luigi kept trying, but it was no use without help.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling upwards, it was a two man job with unhooking the scissoring limbs from the ground. With all of his might that he could muster, Hatty saw as the ground beneath the massive hundred-legger was ripped away as legs started to wriggle free. Once they were able to pull the huge ghost from the ground, <em> down </em> he was slammed with the force of two panicking and <em> fearful </em> men that wanted to escape this place with their <em> lives</em>! Centipete was going to feel <em> this </em> one for a while.</p><p> </p><p>After Centipete had gotten slammed to the ground one last time, Luigi doesn't hesitate to snatch tiny gold and silver centipede that was crawling around within the bunches of little spiders and centipedes- which Centipete gets enraged while in his original ghost form and tries to get the little critters to attack the two. "<em>I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T LEAVE HERE!!</em>" Luigi tries to suck up the little spiders and centipedes that are trying to attack the two, but he needs to get to Centipete and <em> quickly </em> . While Hatty was focusing on sucking up the little creatures, Luigi instead flashes his strobulb; making the critters explode into <em> coins </em> in mass and making a passage to Centipete.</p><p>Charging at Centipete, Luigi charges his strobulb and releases it, stunning the specter. "<b><em>ACK!!</em> </b> <em> HOW DARE YOU!!</em>" While stunned, Luigi switches to the vacuum nozzle, "<em>Th-this t-time, y-you're not g-getting away...</em>" He snags onto Centipete's ghost tail and gets pulled along with such high resistance. With much pulling and tugging, the scepter was finally captured and sucked into Luigi's poltergust. "G-gotcha!"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty frantically drew in the spiders, with multiple flashes of gold causing coins to flash about him... after, he was shaken, still swatting and shooing away whatever spider or bug was still trying to cling to him! Once that nightmare was done, it was time to get out of here... and by the mercy of the divinities, the portal reopened! "<em>That way, to the portal gate! Hurry!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The rumbles of the pocket dimension gets more violent once Centipete had been captured, which made both Hatty and Luigi having a hard time keeping their balance as they try to get to the opened portal as fast as they could before the dimension collapses completely.</p><p>"I-I'm coming!" Luigi tries to get to the portal hastily as the void is quickly shrinking and the violent quakes don't help with his balance. As soon as both Hatty and Luigi got to the portal, the void had shrunk to only a few meters in diameter around the portal. "L-let's-a go!!" At this rate, the green plumber and the captain didn't hesitate to jump into the portal in hopes to get back to the ship before the void engulfed the portal and closed in on itself.</p><p> </p><p>Jumping through the portal along with the green clad plumber, the "door" of the tiny pantry flew open, spitting the two out before the door slammed into its hinges and... <em> disappeared!</em> Seems that it was some sort of Alice in Wonderland style boobytrap! Being tossed out first, Hatty fell <em> head </em> first and skidded on his shoulders, coming to rest with his rump to the wall. He didn't <em> hit </em> his head, thankfully, mostly his shoulders and upper back. Dazed, but mostly uninjured, he swiftly came to and looked to his comrade. "<em>Luigi, are you okay?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi wasn't as lucky, as his body was slammed against the wall face first opposite of the door that disappeared, then slid down to the ground a couple seconds later while feeling dizzy. "<em>Ayyyeee.... Mmmammmaaa mmmmiiiaaaa....</em>" It didn't take him very long to recover as he shook his head and sat up. "Owie... Th-that was a rough landing..."</p><p> </p><p>Scuffling up onto his feet from flipping about, Hatty pulled Luigi up off of the ground, irrespective of how much his body was starting to ache from being knocked around by Centipete. "Thank goodness we made it out of there... let's get our machines emptied, mine is <em> crawling </em> with spiders..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks up and nods, as he rubs his neck a bit. "<em> Y-yeah, need some rest and p-probably fill up as well. </em>" Just as when the two were heading back, the GameBoo Advance SP started ringing; which startled the green stache. He digs it out of his pocket and answers the call. "Hello?"</p><p>"<em>Luigi! I'm glad you're able to answer! We were all worried about you and Mr. Hatty, because neither of you weren't anywhere on the ship and couldn't reach you.</em>" Gadd informs as he was on the other side of the call. "W-well..." Luigi stumbles a bit with his words, "B-both of us were in a... P-pocket dimension... And, we were b-barely able to escape a-after catching one of th-the crew mates..." The Italian plumber sighs heavily, as he keeps rubbing and scratching his neck a bit, as if something is <em> itchy </em> on it. Though Gadd noticed what Luigi was doing with his neck and kept tabs while a few crew mates and much recovered Boocille watched the screen from behind the professor and waved to Luigi and Hatty. "<em>I know that you caught a lot of ghosts while out there, come back and let's empty those canisters from your poltergusts~</em>" Luigi agrees, as he looks up to Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you for checking on us, Dr. Gadd. We'll be there as soon as we can. We... found an old friend, Centipete... it was... it was <em> hard </em> getting him. ... we-we were both <em> covered </em> in so many bugs. I... I feel like I need a shower..." Hatty shivered before looking down, realizing that there was a <em> massive </em> tarantula on him. "<em>EUGH- SPIDER-</em>" Smacking it, he ended up stomping on it as well. Yep, this one was a <em> real</em>... must've been from just being in a dingy, dirty part of the ship. "<em>Okay, that one was real- that's not even funny! Ewww, it was so hairy and twitchy..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi jumps from Hatty's reaction, though Gadd from the other end of the screen laughs from the two getting scared from a spider. "<em>AAAAIIIIEEEE!!!</em>" He yelps, but when the tarantula gotten squished the green stache breathes a sigh of relief. "<em>D-don't st-start, Gadd... Th-that's not funny...</em>" But hearing the professor already laughing from the two getting scared, he did stop after a few seconds. "<em>Don't worry, come back when you get the chance. Don't keep an old man waiting!</em>" The professor tells them as he hangs up.</p><p>Luigi waves to Gadd as he hangs up, "Bye bye~" The green plumber puts the GameBoo Advance SP away and looks back at the door that used-to be there and thinks a bit. He switches to his darklight and shines at the wall, as if there was something hidden.</p><p> </p><p>Brushing off the <em> awful </em> feeling of where the spider was, Hatty glanced up at seeing the shift in the wall... "... what's that?" He noticed before Luigi did, going up to the wall and running his fingers along it. "... a door? Was this he-- <em> oh </em> ! This is... well, <em> used </em> to be where the janitor's closet was. ... how did it become a solid wall?"</p><p> </p><p>Once the door has been semi-visible, a few ghostly orbs pop out and float right next to them - which made Hatty's memories trigger from long ago as Luigi quickly sucks up the orbs in so the door becomes completely opaque. The same door the portal was in as Luigi opened it, the portal didn't exist anymore and showed a tiny room. It was the actual pantry closet and shines his flashlight in to look around; cautiously of course. "<em>H-how strange...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"... what are these orb things?" Hatty reached out and touched them. <em> Bad idea</em>! They were <em> beyond </em> cold! Endothermic, he pulled back and felt ice nearly cracking up his nails! "T-that was a bad choice..! I-is there anything in this room?" Deciding to look about with his flashlight in hand, Hatty couldn't see much aside from old boxes of cleaning supplies. Some looked <em> ages </em> old!</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi looks around, spots something shiny at the end of the tiny pantry. "H-hey! Found something!" The green plumber reaches to grab it, and takes it off the hook. It was another key! Once the key in hand, both Hatty gets out of the tiny room before a trap would be able to set on him, but the spectral gates slam down on Luigi just while still inside the pantry room. "<em>Ohhhh n-n-noo...</em>" This time, the captain wasn't locked inside but the green plumber is. If <em> only </em> there's a way out somehow, as Luigi tries to break free by focusing on the wall and bashing himself into it while no ghosts come to attack... Or so they thought.</p><p>While Luigi was trying to escape, a boo was hiding in one the boxes so that the green stache would find it, as the all too familiar maniac cackle was heard from within. That itself made Luigi stop and turn around. "<em>Wh-who's th-there..?</em>" The Italian plumber shakingly questions, as he goes to find the source of the noise.</p><p> </p><p>Crying out as the door was slammed shut with a gate about it, Hatty tried to pull at it. Yanking with his shoulders going back, he was so frantic that he <em> stood </em> on the door and pulled! No dice. It was easier to pull teeth than to get that gate open! "<em>Luigi, get your flashlight ready! The oil lamp in there's dead, don't bother with it.</em>" Said oil lamp was <em> broken </em> , anyway. Something threw it and <em> smashed </em> it into a million pieces.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps as he looks around, seeing <em> anything </em> out of the ordinary, since his Gooigi friend isn't here to help spot the boo on where it's hiding, he'll have-to <em> guess </em> where the boo is hiding.</p><p>With one nervous gulp after hearing the captain, the green plumber bumps stuff around to at least try to knock boo out - which actually worked like charm and spooked Luigi; making him jump and fall on his butt. "<b><em>AAAAIIIIEEEEE!!!</em></b>" Though he didn't stay on the floor quickly and stands with his flashlight in hand.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty spun about with his feet on the door, trying <em> frantically </em> to yank the door off its hinges! Darn it... he missed his brother and his brutish gorilla strength! He could've made work of this door in two shakes! Here <em> Hatty </em> was, looking like a toddler trying to break out of time out. "<em>I'm getting there-- m-making progress!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi was distracted by the boo and tried to make him visible when it was trying to attack the plumber, there was a small tap on Hatty's shoulder, as if to get the captain's attention. Just <em> who </em> would want the captain's focus away from the <em> locked </em> door?</p><p>Once Hatty stopped <em> pulling </em> on the door and turns around - which was wide open and can be shown the spectral gate locking Hatty out and Luigi in, the green plumber spots one of the ghosts of the crew mates behind Hatty though he couldn't help but dodge the attack from the boo and shines his darklight at it to stun the boo. "<em>M-mr. H-hatty... W-watch o-out!!</em>" With that little distraction, the boo was successful to land a hit on Luigi, knocking him to the floor.</p><p>"<em>It's been a long time... </em> <b> <em>BROTHER!!</em></b>" Oh lord, it sounded like... The ghost of Reginald right behind Hatty! His booming voice can rattle the walls, floor and ceiling of how strong it was. Of course, Hatty didn't react fast enough as Reginald punted the captain far enough down the hallway from the doorway and Luigi saw the whole thing of what happened outside. "<em>Heh heh! Looks like you've turned back to your actual corporeal form, brother... </em> " Reginald snickers with an evil grin. "<em>It's too bad, we'll get you to come back to us... In due time~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Being coaxed away from the door and his attention turned, his expression <em> sank </em> into disbelief, seeing his <em> own </em> flesh and blood in such a horrible state. "<em>... brother--</em>" Before he could say anything, the <em> punishing </em> uppercut sent him tumbling and skidding across the floor, the splintered wood catching his clothes. Rearing up from the impact, Hatty turned green and bile splattered onto the floor with bits of pizza still within it. The strike to his gut was hard enough to make him lose its contents. Gasping for air and feeling the miserable curling of his stomach, he held his arms up, trying to defend himself from the spectral body of his brother.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Reggie... Reginald, d-do-don't..! Please, I-I'm your brother, you can't do this..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>HAHAHA!! This is only the beginning~</em>" For what it sounded like, the S.S. Friendship was the starting point of what's to come, when King Boo and Lord Maya would be successful. "<em>So what that you're my brother! You shouldn't have gotten the ship into the dense fog, so it's your fault for all of this!</em>" Reginald growls, "<em>Sooner or later, everything will fall into place...</em>" Reginald doesn't stay put, but instead flies through the walls into the tiny pantry room and gets to Luigi while he's still on the floor. Of course, the green stache notices him right above him and felt horrified to see him right there and didn't react in time.</p><p>With a sinister laugh, Reginald grabs Luigi by the throat and lifts him up in the air with just one hand, which the green plumber yelps out while being choked from the ghostly brother of Hatty's. "<em>Now </em> <b> <em>you</em></b><em>... I'll make sure that you'll be put into a special portrait, when you least expect it...</em>" Luigi tries to speak up in protest, but with his windpipe being almost cut off, all he could muster is slight weeps as he's feeling so scared and having a little bit of tears stream down his cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>During that time, Luigi was able to push a button on his GameBoo Advance SP, turning it on without the screen nor the speakers on it, but the microphone and the GPS was turned on so that Gadd, Boocille and a few of the crew mates heard what's going on in audio only.</p><p>"Oh no! Luigi and Hatty is in trouble!" Kazu hears what's going on through the monitors in Gadd's lab. The professor hears what's happening in the background and wishes he could see, but the GameBoo Advance SP was still in Luigi's pocket and was slightly muffled. "Quickly! They need help!" Gadd turns on the pixelator that's nearby their location to send a few of the crew mates as well as Boocille to get Luigi and Hatty to safety.</p><p> </p><p>At hearing the <em> massive </em> commotion, Boocille gasped and <em> flew </em> from the room, along with the chefs rushing out. Wasn't sure how they could help, but <em> dammit</em>, they weren't going to let their captain and the hero showing him how to save his ship go at this without aid! All the while, Hatty was powerless, unable to get through either the gate or to get his flashlight to work. Shoot, he must've <em> landed </em> on the nozzle! The bulb failed to go, buzzing loudly and sputtering chaotically. <em> No</em>..! He couldn't let Luigi be hurt like that! He was trying to do whatever he could to make it work against... but nothing was working!</p><p> </p><p>That was until a little wisp popped up behind Reginald. Like that, Boocille flew behind him and- with her mouth wide open- she <em> encased </em> his whole head in her mouth! Like an overly large hat, she enveloped his head and refused to let go! She wasn't going to let him hurt Mr. Luigi anymore!</p><p> </p><p>While Reginald was choking Luigi as the green stache was feeling weak and about to pass out, he overhears loud footsteps coming closer to the pantry closet and turns half-way around to have his head looking to the door before Boocille latched onto his head.</p><p>That made the ghost drop Luigi to the floor as he struggled to get her free from his head. While Reginald was struggling, Luigi gasps for air as he almost passed out from lack of oxygen while holding onto his throat gently with his hand. The green stache looks up and sees what's happening with Reginald, just as the ghost got wise and was strong enough to open up her mouth to get his head out of her mouth, then toss her to the side like a ball playing in a sports game. "<em>GRRR... I'll be back! Don't you think it'll be the last!</em>" Reginald maniacally laughs as he vanishes and flies off as he gets information of where Boocille has been hiding.</p><p> </p><p>Being flung across like a ball, she bounced and skidded off to the side before being left seeing stars. Shaking the cobwebs from her head, she looked about before <em> realizing </em> the tragic error she'd just made. She merely wanted to help, but now she put herself on the chopping block! Feeling that coldness encapsulate her belly, she whined out fearfully... she'd have to go back into hiding because of this!</p><p> </p><p>In that same instance, the two chefs came skidding into the room, <em> shocked </em> when they saw the state that Hatty was in. "<em>Captain!</em>" "Oh, lord..! He's badly hurt! Are you ill, captain? What's happened?" Poor man could hardly speak, was still gasping for air and in a hard to describe situation... covered in bile, shaking, and clutching his gut.</p><p> </p><p>Kazu tries to help Hatty out and tries to sit him up next to the wall. "Come on, we need to get Luigi out of there!" After putting Hatty up against the wall, the ninja tries to find a way to get inside by throwing a couple smoke balls to vanish to teleport himself into the pantry closet while Aaron and Fargus try to break the wall leading into the closet with them slamming into it.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi hears Boocille whine as he crawls over to her while still trying to regulate his breathing. "<em>B-Boocille...</em>" He whispers as she wraps his arms around her to help comfort the cute boo. "<em>I-it's o-okay... Th-thank you... F-for saving me...</em>" While the green stache was talking to her calmly while scared; he felt her disappear like last time and her nestled within his chest. At least his warm heart beat would help them <em> both </em> feel at ease in a little bit, just as Luigi hears the crew mates slam into the walls to try to bust it open, which made his heart race a bit, since the spectral gates didn't lift up - even though the boo he was attacked had disappeared from the closet completely.</p><p> </p><p>Friends to the <em> rescue</em>! Bashing the wall down, Fargus was swift to make his presence known with his heavy footsteps and imposing physique. "<em>No one gets their hands on my friends and gets away with it! </em> Mr. Luigi, are you alright? W-what's happened? We heard your distress signal and also hear a massive scuffle!"</p><p> </p><p>With the wall busted down, it <em> was </em> an exit... however that gate would dissipate either in due time, or require that one boo to be sucked into the machine. The faint gold glow of the key flickered in the dark as one of the friends grabbed it. An unusual, yet old looking key. Definitely belonged to a door within the ship. It was pocketed for now, the <em> main </em> question was if the two were alright? <em> Especially </em> the captain, who was in a pool of vomit and shaking like a leaf!</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi slowly getting up with Fargus' help, "<em>I-I'm okay...</em>" He brushes the dust off of him, but wasn't expecting Fargus to pick the green stache up completely and carry him over his shoulder. "WOAH! W-wait!" Just as Kazu poofs back into the pantry closet, he facepalms after realizing the wall been busted through. .oO( <em> What a good time to waste the smoke balls. </em> ) The ninja follows Fargus out of the pantry closet as the fat guy picks up Hatty as well and puts him on his other shoulder to carry the two <em> heroes </em> back to the lab - with the pixelator's help for fast travel.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>During this time, King Boo and Maya had been closely studying Luigi's and Hatty's movements on the ship, as they finally got a <em> security </em> system operational through Gadd's pixelator cameras. "<em>So... Looks like I was right after all.</em>" Maya mentions. "<em>They have been reversing the extractor and bringing the crew mates back to life, and now we know that Gadd </em> <b> <em>was</em> </b> <em> freed.</em>" The two also find out that Boocille is actually siding with the heroes as well, which makes King Boo furious.</p><p> </p><p>Scowling as he saw this, King Boo slammed his stubby limbs down onto the wall. "<em>CURSES!! Damn that little bastard!! How </em> <b> <em>dare</em> </b> <em> she defy me?! She's one of my </em> <b> <em>greatest</em> </b> <em> mistakes... however, I'll be sure that once our plan starts to take shape, that she watches as her precious friends all fall down one by one! It'll be fitting for her </em> <b> <em>defiance</em> </b> <em> towards me. While they may have this little ragtag team, they don't have any means of bringing back their </em> <b> <em>precious</em> </b> <em> puppy. It's just too early yet to set him out... we still have one of our top troops: dear Reginald.</em>" King Boo chuckled loudly, knowing that they still had Hatty's flesh and blood.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>His mustachio'd older brother got him </em> <b> <em>right</em> </b> <em> where it hurts... if that morale of his could be broken entirely, he'll just be another nail to slam into the wall. A useless peon to kick off the edge of this ship and watch drown. They may have their little team, but we have an </em> <b> <em>army</em></b><em>.</em>" One thing they failed to realize was that they would now have <em> Centipete </em> and his insectoid army... centipedes, spiders, wasps and crickets could come to their aid.</p><p> </p><p>Maya rubs his chin a bit. "<em>Hmm... If she is helping that silly plumber out, there must be a way to get her to separate from him.</em>" He gets an inkling feeling of <em> why </em> Boocille is helping Luigi out, but he doesn't know <em> how </em> she is helping him. "<em>If only we can get the extractor back, then that silly professor won't be able to help any more of their crew to turn back to their original corporeal forms.</em>" Maya mentions, though he is having problems trying to find the locations of where the cameras are and not able to tap into the pixelator functions yet and the camera in Gadd's lab hasn't been working properly into tapping into it- since there's a lot of static and can't keep the screen from going to complete static at times.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... maybe... separation is just what we need~</em>" King Boo smirked evilly, going over to the corrupted polterpup and pet his head. "<em>If we can get that little team out of wherever they huddle into, the mutt here could go down and track that plumber's scent. It would be leading us </em> <b> <em>straight</em> </b> <em> to the fox's den! Once there, we can destroy their precious revitalizing device, turn even Gadd into one of our puppets, and truly start the path to </em> <b> <em>ruling</em> </b> <em> the world! Nothing will stand in our way, then... cities will fall, all shall crumble!</em>"</p><p><br/>"<em>Heh heh, in due time, we will...</em>" Maya softly whispers to himself as he keeps working on tapping in the new pixelator cameras that are showing up, which help them out as well, right under Gadd's nose! Though it'll take time for the camera to work properly in the lab.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Sands of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the crew mates had traveled back to Gadd's lab, Fargus gently sets Hatty down onto a chair close by while Luigi was able to stand after he was put down on the floor. "Phew, that was rough." Luigi sighs heavily as he and the captain had barely escaped Reginald's wrath, thanks to the crew's and Boocille's help. "Luigi! Hatty! Glad you're okay." Gadd spins around to face the two as the crew leaves the lab to go back to their stations, except for Fargus. "Y-yeah, if it weren't for Boocille and all of you, I would have..." He stops himself as he feels the sting around his neck and rubs his throat, looks like Reginald <em> definitely </em> left a mark on poor Luigi.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille, afraid now to leave Luigi, melodically chimed out her soft voice. .oO( <em> I saw you were in danger... sometimes a hero needs a hero! E-even if I might have to lay low a while, it was worth it to keep you from meeting a grizzly end by that big brute! </em> ) No one would see her, but her influence was true.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over Luigi, the doctors treated his insect-inflicted wounds and saw the bruising on his neck. "Goodness. A bad mark, but it should pass in due time." Turning to Hatty, they were <em> appalled </em> by the mark on his belly. "Lay down, we need to make sure your innards weren't devastated by that hit!" As the two docs saw to him, Hatty was being oddly quiet.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... if you hadn't gone through that fog... it's your fault!</em>" To see the sneering face of Reginald barking that down at him... he <em> knew </em> that wasn't the real Reggie, but it <em> still </em> hurt. His otherwise comforting voice, snarling such insults without a care at him, ringing back the captain's folly for steering the vessel into danger.</p><p> </p><p>After being checked and treated with the wounds as well as on his neck, Luigi smiled a bit with friends around, as well as Boocille's words heard within him. .oO( <em> Th-thank you... I-I'll protect you as m-much as I can... </em> ) He goes over to Hatty to see how the captain is doing. "<em>Mr. Hatty... H-how are you feeling..?</em>" The green stache gently asks him, since it looked like that Hatty was in a <em> zone </em> that he wasn't talking.</p><p> </p><p>As the doctors carefully cleaned the bile from his face and his ascot taken off to be washed, Hatty seemed to be distanced until hearing Luigi's voice. "Uh? Oh- I'm alright, I'm fine! Just a bit sore... belly hurts a lot." He tried to shake off what was going on in his mind, trying to focus more on the issue that was merely physical.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-I'm curious... W-was th-that g-ghost... Y-your B-brother..?</em>" Luigi nervously questions, since he remembers the ghost encounter called Hatty his brother.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing out through his nose, Hatty nodded with the <em> sorrowful </em> kicked puppy look imaginable. The glimmer of <em> pain </em> in his eyes spoke volumes without him even saying a word. Staring down at the ground, he looked <em> nothing </em> like the usually happy, plucky captain he usually was. More like someone who was... aware that his family had been turned on him. His <em> only </em> family.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing how sad Hatty had become, Luigi frowns alongside. "<em>Y-you know... I-if my twin brother t-turned on me l-like th-that...</em>" Oh, if only Luigi knew. "<em>I-I would b-be devastated as well...</em>" The green stache hops on next to the captain and sits next to him. " <em> M-maybe, w-we can get h-him back... </em>" Though, they don't know how powerful Reginald really is in his ghost form... Yet.</p><p> </p><p>"... I hope so. I <em> truly </em> hope that we can bring him out of the mind bent Hell he's trapped in. It's beyond <em> cruel</em>... where he's been shifted against his own blood. He likely isn't even <em> aware, </em> with how deep the strings have been embedded. ... I don't want my brother to stay trapped in that sort of prison." It wasn't merely <em> that </em> fact alone that stuck him so much. The weight was set <em> back </em> on his shoulders of his <em> entire </em> ship being thrown into this apostate state of enslavement... his <em> need </em> for adventure clouded all judgement. To hear his <em> own </em> brother talk down at him and drive the point that it was all his fault only stung <em> worse </em>. Some of the other crew mates notice this, Dorchester being the first to say something.</p><p> </p><p>"... Hatty, this isn't <em> your </em> doing. You just wanted adventure not just for yourself, but <em> everyone </em> on the ship. You were just doing what you do best: bringing us excitement, cheer and wonder." "... yet I was <em> told </em> by Reginald, <em> before </em> this, that it would be a bad idea. Yet I insisted..." "You had no idea such an outcome would have happened! No one could have predicted that some otherworldly force might have--" "<em>It </em> <b> <em>has</em> </b> <em> happened before, Dorchester!! I sent us through the heart of a storm and we crashed on that </em> <b> <em>damned</em> </b> <em> island, swarmed with those feral, insane felines! We were trapped there for years, everyone was tortured and made to put on a damned matinée of terror! You have </em> <b> <em>no right</em> </b> <em> saying it isn't my fault when it </em> <b> <em>is</em> </b> <em> ! That this is the theater </em> <b> <em>all over again</em></b><em>!!</em>" With that, <em> everything </em> fell silent.</p><p> </p><p>"... just... <em> all of you</em>... <em> leave me alone.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty has told everyone off, pretty much all of the crew mates left the captain alone, but Luigi didn't budge. In fact, he scooted closer to Hatty to help comfort him. "<em>I-I know how it is... B-but, i-if it weren't f-for you, I wouldn't have met you...</em>" Luigi hopes in his kind and stuttering words, there was some shining light within the darkness.</p><p> </p><p>"... if it wasn't for <em> me</em>, you wouldn't be <em> stuck </em> in this nightmare. Because of <em> me</em>, you're just one man fighting the swarms of <em> Hell </em> . If I'd listened to Reginald, we'd never be in this situation... if I'd listened to reason, you'd be safe in your kingdom and relaxing with your brother, sweetheart and Ms. Peach, and those little... mushroom fellas. I've caused <em> so </em> much trouble, <em> so </em> much pain, even... even <em> before </em> all of <em> this </em> ! It's like... everything pointed me <em> away </em> , from being a captain, <em> away </em> from having this ship. Now... I'm being <em> punished </em> for my ignorance."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi was at a loss for words, after hearing what Hatty has gone through. He knows how it is when Mario doesn't listen to reason and got punished for his ignorance. It took a bit, but Luigi hops off and lends out his hand to the captain. "N-no matter what happens, we will always p-prevail!" The green stache gives out his optimism with a big grin on his face in hopes to cheer Hatty up.</p><p> </p><p>"... but what if <em> that </em> isn't enough? What if something after <em> this </em> happens that may be even <em> worse?</em> My stubbornness and <em> need </em> to explore has put <em> many </em> people in jeopardy. ... maybe... maybe I'm not <em> meant </em> to be a captain. What's the <em> point </em> of being a captain if all you do is <em> hurt </em> your crew? What's the point of... <em> anything?</em> My ship's in <em> ruins </em> , most of my friends are specters that are still bound to strings... even my own <em> brother</em>... maybe... maybe if I'd listened to father, I would've been something <em> useful</em>. I wouldn't <em> be </em> in this situation, I wouldn't have put <em> you </em> into this. If... if I listened to him and just became a merchant marine instead of a <em> grown man </em> focused on <em> friendship</em>, I... I wouldn't be risking peoples' lives."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi didn't have anything else in mind to say in return and sighs heavily, which made the green stache feel sad from the captain's words. While Hatty is moping about, Luigi goes to empty out his canister from his poltergust G-00 to get Centipete out and transform back to how he was before through the extractor. Of course, it spat the crew mate out after going through such a device.</p><p>While dizzy, Centipete tries to stand up after being ejected from the extractor, confused by what happened. "Wh-where am I..?" In a daze, he sees Luigi come over to help him up. "Thanks." Centipete tells Luigi. "What happened? Where are we?" The new crew mate asks, since his memory is completely foggy, but looked completely puzzled when seeing the green stache in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>"... I think I can explain." Fargus stepped up and started to tell the tale: ghosts, Boocille, the Mushroom Kingdom, King Boo, their enslavement... it was a lot to take in, but that's what happened. "... but, now, Hatty's gotten all... sad and mad? It's weird. I've <em> never </em> seen him like that before! Dorchester tried to cheer him up and even Mr. Luigi, but he doesn't seem to be better."</p><p> </p><p>Centipete was stunned after hearing what had happened, but hearing about Hatty feeling sad, "F-from what I h-heard... Both me and Hatty h-had ran i-into... H-his <em> b-brother</em>..." Luigi mentioned, as he rubs his neck since the bruise around it is hard to ignore from what Reginald did. "Oh dear lord, <em> R-Reginald?!</em>" Centipete recalls how ruthless his ghostly form is before he was captured and turned into a ghost himself, and notices the bruise on Luigi's neck that the green plumber tried to hide, but isn't working. "S-so, that's h-his name..?" Luigi replied to Centipete with a gulp in his throat, since he wasn't able to catch Hatty mentioning his name earlier, just <em> brother </em> part. "Y-yes, he's brutal and strong after he was forcefully turned into a ghost..." Centipete sighed, "I wonder how we're going to stop him from hurting you again, Mr. Luigi..."</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... I'll be damned if I let him hurt you again! </em> ) Boocille's voice squeaked up within Luigi's mind, fortitude strong in her angelic voice. .oO( <em> ... but... is Mr. Hatty going to be okay? </em> ) The man was still sitting alone, mostly curled in on himself. That was <em> nothing </em> like the usually happy-go-lucky, sweet captain that he normally was. He was much colder, almost bitter, and wanted to be <em> alone </em> . He <em> hated </em> being alone! Seems that Reginald's comment was the Sisyphus's stone that set the poor man back. "... I dunno, maybe we should give Hatty some space and talk to Mr. Gadd about what to do to keep such a strong spirit from hurting Mr. Luigi again?"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Luigi ponders a bit, wondering what to do to keep Reginald from attacking again. "I-it could be that R-Reginald fella didn't w-want t-t-to wait to p-put me in a portrait, w-with the rest of my f-family..." The Italian plumber stutters as he feels sad after mentioning that information, since he already misses his brother at least. .oO( <em> I-I'm not sure... I-I hope that Mr. Hatty would be okay, a-and wanted t-to be alone... </em> ) Luigi thinks to himself to reply to Boocille within.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I promise, if anything- Mr. Luigi- I'll see that we get </em> <b> <em>your</em> </b> <em> brother out... e-even if it means me facing King Boo head on! ... sure, he scares me, but I won't let him keep your family hostage! </em> ) Dorchester looked over to the place where Hatty rested and tapped on Kev's shoulder... seems the doctors had to speak in private.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Luigi tries to prepare to head out once more while talking to Boocille within his mindset as Centipete helps with the green stache in any way he could while Gadd keeps tinkering with the poltergust G-00 to get more features installed. Once Luigi is ready to go, he goes to check up on Hatty to see if he's feeling any better. "D-do you still n-need some alone t-time..?" Luigi asks the captain while standing next to him.</p><p> </p><p>The captain's wounds were finally tended to by the doctors after demanding to be left alone. "Mm? Oh... ... I'm fine, yes. I'm sorry about before. I think I was just a bit overwhelmed, is all. But I'm ready to go!" He faux smiled, pulling himself up onto his feet. Even <em> Boocille </em> could smell bullcrap. .oO( <em> ... he's lying, I can tell. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-yeah, I can tell as well... </em> ) Luigi thought to Boocille as he felt sad from within, but showing his optimism. "Let's-a go!" Luigi remembers something from earlier, about Hatty not having the boost feature on his poltergust 5000. "Before we go, do you want the professor upgrade your poltergust with this feature?" The green stache turns around to show off the propeller on the underside of his poltergust G-00.</p><p> </p><p>"Upgrade?" Hatty was pulled along and brought over to Dr. Gadd, who was swift to explain the upgrade. Upon hearing this, and figuring it would aid them on their quest to free all of the crew members, the captain readily agreed, setting his device aside and allowing the good doctor to give it the upgrade.</p><p> </p><p>Once the professor had taken Hatty's poltergust, he quickly gets to work in getting the boost feature installed, which didn't take him very long - since he can tinker with machinery quite easily.</p><p>After a few minutes, Gadd turns back around with the boost feature installed. "I hope this will help you better, in <em> sticky </em> situations." Gadd just <em> had-to </em> mention that, having Luigi recalling the spider webs being sticky and shivers from it. "<em>P-professor...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Trembling at remembering the spider that was crawling on him, Hatty looked to the nozzle and felt the shift in the device's gravity. "... so how does it work, doctor?" He gave it a small shake before noticing the switch in the handle. Flipping it and giving it a squeeze, he didn't expect it to be so... <em> forceful!</em> He suddenly <em> flew </em> backwards, skidding on his rump before coming to an audible halt. "<em>... wwwwoah. </em> I think I just traveled through time."</p><p> </p><p>Gadd laughs of how Hatty tested the waters of the new feature with lots of stuff all around had shaken from the burst and crashed to the floor, which Luigi snickers as well before the green stache goes over to help him up. "W-well, at least it w-works." Luigi gives a nice smile. "I'll teach you more to try to get used-to the burst feature, later on."</p><p> </p><p>"It's... definitely much <em> stronger </em> than I imagined! You handle that thing so naturally, yet I went flying like a candy wrapper caught in a vent." Shaking himself off, he was just happy he didn't slam into a window or something worse. "Oh! Where does that new key go, friend..?"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Luigi takes the key while digging out his GameBoo Advance SP and plops it on the screen, as the device scans the key and shows where the key goes next on it. "Oh, it goes here!" The green stache shows Hatty the screen on the device - which shows the map and the location to where the key goes.</p><p> </p><p>"... hmm, just seems to be cabin 108. That's just a normal living space... it's been so long, I can't even remember who used to stay in there. Might remember when we get there, hope there may be something of use there." As they walked by, Hatty saw the other crew mates... he hastily scurried, trying to avoid being seen by them. However, a few <em> did </em> see him, watching forlorn as he hurried off.</p><p> </p><p>"W-wait for me!" Luigi tries to follow along, but it wasn't too hard to keep up with Hatty. Although once Hatty spotted the crew mates while running down the hallways to get to cabin 108, the Italian plumber tried to hide alongside the captain to make sure they didn't get spotted.</p><p>But, since the few crew mates already had spotted the two, the few ghosts flew into the cabin they were heading towards, as if they're <em> planning </em> something... But what? Both Hatty and Luigi were confused and looked at each other for a moment, since the two decided to not hunt them down and instead, run away.</p><p>The two continue on until they reach cabin 108. Luigi digs out the key from his pocket and unlocks the door, but like most other keys, it vanishes into the keyhole - which made Hatty confused to see when that happens some of the time and some doesn't. "S-so strange the k-key vanishes..." Luigi muttered.</p><p> </p><p>"Truly odd... they <em> look </em> like the real keys. Maybe... they're not?" He shrugged at Luigi before gently pushing the door open, a slight twinge of apprehension in his throat. Opening it up, it was a lesser decayed cabin room that seemed to be in a better state than most of the shop. Shining his flashlight, Hatty was the first to step inside, panning the flashlight around. "... I don't see much yet..?" Though his flashlight caught something through the thick dust... something uncanny, mounted on the wall.</p><p> </p><p>Upon Luigi looking in, he sees one of the several portraits, the one with several toads in one. Luigi felt happy to see at least one of the portraits, though as he stepped inside the cabin, he heard a slight <em> click </em> ; making the plumber instantly jump back to barely avoid the dart traps hiding in the walls on both sides with pulling Hatty back just in time. "<em>YIKES!! C-careful...</em>" He warns the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>WAH!!</em>" Hatty cried out, one of the darts getting <em> so </em> close that it ripped some fabric from his coat. "<em>H-holy guacamole..! </em> Your reflexes are <em> incredible</em>, Luigi..! T-thank you-" That thanks might be premature, as soon, there were quite a few ghosts that seemed <em> eager </em> to smite them down. "<em>Uh oh!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With them knowing traps are in the cabin and the ghosts that are not part of the usual crew, both Luigi and Hatty pursue on, amid cautiously to capture the ghosts inside. Once inside the door shut behind the two to trap them. "<em>U-uh oh...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Things only got from bad to worse, as there wasn't just <em> one </em> dart trap. There were <em> several </em> in this place to deter any chances of rescue, and also a few <em> unorthodox </em> traps set in place. Flashing his light about and seeing that the doors were still locked, Hatty took a few anxious steps forward and felt the floorboards beneath him creaking... totally norming, until one sank into a mold. Hearing something rattling, he was <em> whacked </em> aside by a swinging log that barreled him back against the door, leaving him seeing stars from the jostling to his senses. "<em>... ooww... ... c-careful, there's... lots of booby traps...</em>" Lesson: learned. The darts would soon be the <em> least </em> of their concerns.</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi seeing that Hatty got hit from the swinging log, the plumber yelps and quickly helps him up once he is barely able to dodge another trap - this time a swinging axe that keeps swinging after a few seconds. Though Luigi feels terrified of the traps and felt his body shake in fear. He doesn't want to pursue, but he needs to, in order to get to the portrait that's shown of several toads in one.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... sweet baby Jesus.</em>" Hatty muttered. "... m-maybe we should... just crawl and roll? E-everything seems to be up from the ceiling? I- <em> is </em> that a good idea, do you think?" He had <em> no </em> clue if there was more from below, like a collapsing floor or what have you.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps as he waits for the right time to cross the swinging axes. Once at the right time, he slips through before the axe swings once more. "<em>I-I'll t-t-try...</em>" The green stache keeps inching closer to the portrait, being ever so diligent and trying to feel for the traps laying about.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty wasn't far behind, tumbling away from the axe before he got a few inches shaved off. Phew... felt like he nearly got a haircut with that one! He felt his heart in his throat, ready to jump out at any given moment!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt so close to the portrait - though one more trap awaits. Once Luigi had stepped on the hidden button, the floorboards opened from the bottom, almost losing his footing and almost fell in. "<b><em>W-w-woaaaahhh!!</em></b>" The green stache tries to keep balance just before Hatty grabbed the handle of his poltergust to pull him back. "<em>Phew... Th-thank you...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Gripping the other, Hatty utilized the sucking power of his own machine and pulled himself to a wall, forcing his grasp to also pull Luigi from a long plummet. "<em>N-no trouble... God, there can't be too many traps left. There simply can't be that much room, logically!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>P-probably not...</em>" Luigi replies, though the two try to find a way around the trap hole that was just opened - which when against the wall, they were able to squeeze through while hugging the wall as close as they could. After what seemed like <em> forever</em>, they finally reach the portrait, amid a little bit of scrapes on their clothing but not injured. "<em>Phew... That was painful...</em>" Luigi softly spoke as he switched from his flashlight to the darklight to hope to get the toads out from the portrait.</p><p>When doing so, instead of freeing the toads, the portrait does something <em> different</em>, a powerful vacuum starts sucking up debris in the cabin and items as well as both Hatty and Luigi. "<em>O-oh noo!!</em>" This was unusual, because he was expecting to be able to easily free the toads from the portrait out, but it looks like King Boo had <em> other </em> ideas. Luigi doesn't hesitate to plunger the floor and grabs hold with his vacuum to keep himself from being sucked in. "<em>N-not again!!</em>" The green stache yells out, while Hatty is holding onto his legs in hopes for the captain to not let go.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty's own coat got ripped to bits from the splintery, nail-filled wall. It wasn't pleasant, but he was glad that neither himself or Luigi fell in. But now, he felt himself being drawn into this portrait... <em> again </em> with the portals?! Crying out, Hatty tried to get his vacuum to adhere to something while trying to clutch down onto Luigi's arm to prevent himself from flying off... but that vortex was <em> much </em> too strong.</p><p> </p><p>The plunger didn't adhere to the floor very well, thanks to the carpeted floor, and didn't take long for Luigi and Hatty to get sucked in. "<em>AAAIIEEE N-Nooo!!</em>" Luigi yells out, just as the vortex sucked both into the portrait, hoping that he doesn't become part of the portrait himself!</p><p>On the other side of the portal, Luigi and Hatty get spat out and clumsily and face plants onto the ground, "OOF!! Owie..." As he slowly gets up, "<em>N-not again...</em>" Luigi shakes his head and looks around, noticing that they're in some type of small pyramid, deep inside of one. Of course, there's coffins all around the walls, though some are open already and don't have much of anything in, but a few are closed, and there's one coffin in the center of the large room they're in. "<em>Wh-where are we now..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Forced through the tunnel, Hatty bounced on his rump... lucky he didn't skid on his head this time. Getting up and rubbing his sore butt, he whined softly. "Ow... my bumbum. ... I don't know where we..." Looking about, he noticed the pyramid that stood over the landscape. "... a pyramid? Where are we, Egypt?" Just then, the Anubis creature's head reappeared before the two, floating in an infernal halo. "<b><em>Let this be my final warning, mortals. You have stumbled upon my domain. My guardians shall smite you. Turn back now, or suffer my wrath.</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks up and sees the Anubis creature head above as he gets skittish and hides behind Hatty, shaking in fear while shining the light at it. He gulps upon hearing the words from Anubis, as the coffins on the walls open up, as the few ghosts of the crew mates come out of them - which were Tinsel Atwater, Isosceles II, 2-ply and Farmer Phil. The coffin in the center stays closed for now as the four ghosts as well as many lesser ghosts come out to play.</p><p>Of course, Hatty remembers the four ghosts of the crew, and were coming after the plumber and the captain without any hesitation. Luigi tries to run away, but were bombarded by the lesser ghosts. Scared, he quickly flashes the strobulb to stun the lesser ghosts and suck them up. "<em>N-no... N-not th-this t-time..!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Spotting the crew mates, Hatty held up his device, trying to coax them away. "<em>Stay back! I don't want to do this to you, friends! Don't make me..!</em>" Instead of reneging, the specters <em> spun </em> Hatty around before shoving him about, laughing deviously. " <em> Ouf..! </em> Very well! You've played my hand, don't say I didn't warn you!"</p><p> </p><p>Charging up his bulb, he gave a good flash to attempt to stun any of the crew, hoping it would make them senseless for a short while.</p><p> </p><p>The strobulb from Hatty was ineffective for all but Farmer Phil as he got stunned from the light blast. Though the three crew mates that weren't stunned fly over to Luigi and uses their wraps to literally <em> wrap up </em> Luigi to make himself look like one of them while he was distracted from the lesser ghosts that were also coming after him. "<em>MMmmfffhhhh!!</em>" While Luigi is tied up with the ghostly wraps, the lesser ghosts as well as the three crew mates start to mess around and knock the poor plumber around while he's trapped. .oO( <em> ACK! I'm trapped..! </em> ) He thought to himself and Boocille as he struggles to break free while being knocked around and one of them slammed Luigi to the ground. "<em>Mmppppphhhh!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Being forced from Luigi's squished form, she looked and saw how he was being wrapped up by <em> three </em> ghosts! She couldn't do this alone... suddenly, she spotted Hatty trying to focus on Farmer Phil. Instead, she <em> darted </em> forward and took control of the captain. "<em>Wha--!</em>" Twitching slightly, Boocille was frantic in her apologies. .oO( <em> I'm so so so sorry, but I need your help! </em> ) Making his body turn, the poltergust was turned and turned on <em> high</em>, forcing the bandages off of Luigi while pulling him free from the fray. .oO( <em> The farmer can wait, we need to help Luigi, he's getting turned into a mummy! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>As the ghostly bandages unravel from Luigi rapidly, his body spins like a top after being pulled upright. Thanks to Boocille taking control of Hatty for a moment, the bandages come completely off as Luigi tries to stop himself from spinning too much- which made him really dizzy and face plant to the ground, thanks to having his balance all out of whack from the spin. "<em>Aaayyyyeeee...</em>"</p><p>The ghosts didn't take that lightly as the three mummified ghosts focus their attention on Hatty, and try to do the same of what they did to Luigi just a bit ago. During that time, Farmer Phil had gotten out of the stun lock and started to chase after Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Uh-oh!</em>" Seeing the ghosts all coming towards him/her, Boocille panicked and squeezed the nozzle... unaware that she switched it in reverse, as the four descended, she suddenly <em> blasted </em> out a massive rush of powerful suction. It caused debris <em> and </em> beings alike to go flying opposite of the forceful blast. Good <em> grief,</em> Gadd really went the extra mile with these upgrades!</p><p> </p><p>The four ghosts get flung away after the burst was released, not knowing that they had the feature on their vacuums. Though, once the mummified ghosts realize this, they spread out as Farmer Phil was too dense enough to care, and keeps going after Hatty - even after being blown back a ways.</p><p>After a few moments, Luigi has some of the dizzy spell dissipated and slowly sits up while holding his head with his hand. "Ugh... N-nauseous f-feeling... N-not fun..." Luigi felt his head pounding since spinning around made his brain slosh around in his skull and seeing stars in his vision. Eventually, it'll go away, just hoping soon.</p><p>The green plumber looks over to Hatty and notices that he's not usually <em> this </em> reactive. .oO( <em> B-Boocille..? </em> ) He questions if she's still inside him or not, but there was no answer and couldn't <em> feel </em> her inside him- meaning that she's within the captain! "<em>B-be c-careful... B-Boocille...</em>" While struggling to get up with his head hurting, Luigi gets knocked hard from an uppercut from one of the three mummified ghosts and flies back to the center of the room and crash lands onto the center coffin. "OOF!!" His head pounding even more so after that attack, he shifts his nozzle to the vacuum and turns it on high, hoping to have one of the ghosts' bandages get caught in it.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille knew that she <em> couldn't </em> keep panicking and flailing uselessly! She <em> had </em> to do something! Instead, she noticed the bandages that dangled lame on the tails of one of the ghost's, deciding to target that with a good bit of suction. Able to catch its end of it, the one ghost began to yelp fearfully as Boocille kept pulling back. With what strength she could muster in this body, she slammed that ghost down, having to ignore how much she might've hurt them and forced herself to do it again until the bandages were gone! .oO( <em> Phew, that's hard! But I need to keep doing this! I can't let Mr. Luigi keep doing this alone! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty was focused on one of the mummified ghosts, the others turned to Luigi, who was trying to defend himself with the vacuum pointing in front of him. Oh boy, looks like that Luigi's headache is making him feel tired and having a hard time keeping his eyelids open - definitely not a good sign. But the green stache notices one of the mummified ghosts was completely unraveled, and switches to the strobulb at him to stun it for Hatty to suck it up. Though Farmer Phil got stunned again from the blast of light from Luigi, he had-to get up before the others tried to get him again.</p><p>With all the strength Luigi could muster, he quickly gets up and moves out of the way before one of the two left had tried to knock him out and grabs hold of the bandages; yanking them as hard as he could with the vacuum nozzle to suck it all up.</p><p> </p><p>With the one ghost smacked into submission, Boocille managed to suck it up, creating an opening in order to get over to Luigi. "<em>Mr. Luigi, are you alright?</em>" Hatty himself sounded like he was talking underwater, everything becoming blurry. Clearly, not a good sign... looking about, Boocille saw more coming... she had to rinse and repeat the process before everything got worse!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>H-head... H-hurts...</em>" Luigi felt like his head was stuck under sand and couldn't hear much at all - after getting away from the center coffin, the green plumber collapsed to the ground as he felt <em> pressure </em> in his head and closed his eyes. <em> Something </em> has-to be done and <em> fast </em> before losing consciousness and leaving himself vulnerable to attack, and possibly getting captured himself.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, <em> bollocks </em> ! Down goes 'uigi! And this left Boocille alone! In a frenzy, she found herself swiftly surrounded with the whole world seeming to spin about her frantically. She wasn't <em> built </em> to handle this sort of awful attention, this sort of <em> fright </em>! Clutching her head, she felt herself coming undone, the captain's body trying to reject her from the terror.</p><p> </p><p>With a sharp gasp, she <em> screamed </em> something terrible. A ghastly, otherworldly bellow that <em> ripped </em> through the air. Sounding like <em> both </em> a young girl and a man being <em> brutalized </em> with the icy sheen of pure terror, it was a <em> debilitating </em> loudness that could leave anyone on their knees. And it seemed the lungs could carry this scream on <em> forever!</em></p><p> </p><p>The inside of the pyramid shook a little bit after the scream from Hatty/Boocille, with a few vases crashing down from high enough shelves. The remaining ghosts flee for a little while as one of the vases pops out a different-looking heart - a silver one - and bounces towards Luigi.</p><p>Upon the heart reaching the green plumber, his body instantly absorbs it. This one had a different reaction to Luigi than the regular red ones, he felt his headache disappear almost immediately and whatever was happening within his head had stopped. The Italian plumber wakes up fully and slowly gets up. Shaking his head a little bit, he notices the ghosts had ran off after Hatty/Boocille screamed out. "<em>M-Mr. H-Hatty..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The specters were fleeing from the awful sound... the scream was like a room was being <em> slaughtered </em> ! The scream seemed to defy law and reason, his chest was empty and yet the scream continued... only until Hatty fell to his knees did he frantically take in ragged, harsh breaths. Such panic was <em> so </em> intense that he/she was left shaking, sweating and trembling still... all the while, the ghosts were inflicted with a <em> terrible </em> ringing in the ears. Wailing continued on as some were squirming from the awful shriek, and Hatty's senses slowly came back to him. "<em>Whh... hhh... hhh... M-Mr... Mr. Luigi..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After getting onto his feet, Luigi walks over to Hatty with a worried expression. "<em>A-are you o-okay..?</em>" he asks, which he worries about his friend rather than himself. Though after the screaming had stopped, the remaining ghosts had come back out to attack the two - though this time, Luigi felt better and was more prepared. "<em>Watch out!</em>" Luigi shoves Hatty out of the way just as Farmer Phil was about to hit one of the two. In retaliation, Luigi flashes the strobulb and stuns the zombie ghost and quickly snags the ghost tail with his vacuum. This definitely made Luigi drag around while keeping his grip onto the ground. "<em>Y-you're n-not getting a-away!</em>" After another resistance, the green plumber slams Farmer Phil a couple times before being able to suck him in his poltergust chamber.</p><p> </p><p>The panting slowly turned to congested sniveling, looking up with a horrified, quivering expression. Turning to Luigi after Farmer Phil was dealt with, he could see in the other's eyes that this wasn't Hatty, no. It was <em> Boocille</em>. That scream... of course, made sense now. The spectral terror ripped through the air like a cold clap of wind following the deafening roll of thunder.</p><p> </p><p>Once Farmer Phil was dealt with, Luigi looks back to Hatty, noticing that his eyes aren't what they usually are, then he realizes who it <em> really </em> was. "<em>B-Boocille..?</em>" He gently asks, worried about the captain. "<em>I-is th-that you..?</em>" Though distracted a bit, the plumber notices one of the last two ghosts charging at him in the corner of his eyes. "Uh oh..." With one swift move, he ducks from the attack, making the two ghosts knock each other as they collide with each other.</p><p>Luigi turns around to face upwards and unloads a strobulb flash- but like last time, the flash was ineffective. After realizing that error, he bolted from the two ghosts from under them and ran over to the wall, just under one of the many torches that's lighting up the room.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing as how Luigi ran away, Boocille scurried up onto Hatty's feet and followed suit despite the burning in their chest. Rushing alongside the plumber, her voice was wavering through Hatty's, sounding like a muddled mash of sound. "<em>Yes... it's me. I saw you were knocked down and... I felt awful that I couldn't help, so... I took Hatty's body to be used. But then there were so many ghosts that I... I just started screaming... i-it drove some away, though. S-so that's some good, right..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>H-heh, y-yeah, I wasn't e-expecting th-that...</em>" Luigi awkwardly chuckles; just as Tinsel Atwater comes after the two and not realizing the torch sticks above them. Luigi spots the mummied ghost coming after them and tries to reach it, but it was too high for him to reach- thanks to being so short, even when compared to Hatty's height. "<em>Can't... Reach..!!</em>" Luckily that Hatty can grab hold of it a little bit better, since he's just barely enough height to grab hold and take it off its holster.</p><p> </p><p>With a small gasp, Boocille/Hatty reached up and yanked the torch free from the sconce, holding it with a firm grasp. "<em>I-it's okay, I got it..!</em>" Handing it down to Luigi, he/she was curious to what he was going to do with it.</p><p> </p><p>Thanking Hatty/Boocille, Luigi quickly whips it around just as Tinsel Atwater was in striking distance - which the ghost wasn't fast enough to react quickly enough when the flaming torch lit up his bandages. The ghost yelps out and tries to put out the flames and flies around the whole room like crazy as the flames build up almost instantly to pretty much engulf his body.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ah-- AHH AHH, FIRE FIRE FIRE!</em>" The aggressive specter's bandages went up like an oiled wick, burning away and falling to the ground in black, sooty heaps. With the poltergust at the ready, Boocille sucked up the other's tail... but wasn't prepared for <em> this one's </em> fight! Much more frantic due to the fire getting adrenaline going, she was yanked about viciously with the specter flapping about like a dying fish.</p><p> </p><p>While Tinsel Atwater was being <em> taken care of</em>, Isosceles II was not far off and tried to knock Hatty/Boocille from taking him in the vacuum chamber, but didn't expect Luigi to throw the torch right at the other specter and catch him on fire. "<em>ACK!! NO NO NO NO!! HOT HOT HOT!!</em>" Luigi slightly snickers as he chases Isosceles II down and snatches his tail with his vacuum to put out the flames as well as capture him.</p><p> </p><p>With another wailing of the ghost to the ground, that poor sod didn't stand a chance against the vacuum suction. Another specter captures for Boocille... however, the body she possessed suddenly leaned against the wall with her own form suddenly popping from Hatty. Drifting listlessly and falling to the ground, she looked <em> exhausted!</em> Hatty, himself, was left <em> highly </em> disoriented and confused. Shaking his head and looking about, he groggily stumbled in place. "W... w-wha... what happened?"</p><p> </p><p>After sucking up Isosceles II in his chamber, Luigi rushes over to Hatty and Boocille after they separate. The green stache barely was able to catch her before she hit the ground. "Gotcha!" After catching Boocille, he looks up to Hatty with a concerned look on his face. "<em>A-are you okay, Mr. Hatty..?</em>" Luigi asks the captain with a gentle voice.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head with a babbling of his cheeks, he looked to Luigi as his vision stopped doubling. "Erk-- y-yes, yes... I'm fine now, but what the dickens <em> happened?</em> I remember the vortex, the ghosts, but then everything went white." Looking down, it was realized that Boocille lost a <em> lot </em> of energy, taking charge of Hatty's body and puppetting him. "Oh, goodness! She looks so weak..!"</p><p> </p><p>"W-well..." Luigi sighs heavily as he pats the smaller Boocille gently while holding her in his arms. "B-Boocille t-took control of you, a-after my head started to hurt..." Just thinking about it made his head shake slightly, but luckily there was no pain in his head anymore... But doesn't know <em> how </em> that happened, since it felt like a <em> miracle</em>.</p><p> </p><p>"You got hurt? Oh dear... ... well, she's a very valued member of this team, indeed! She saved your hide, and likely put up a good fight... poor thing looks exhausted. What should we do?" She weakly reached up with a shiver, seeming to want to rest within Luigi's body once more. That was her <em> happy place</em>.</p><p> </p><p>"I-I don't know..." Seeing how Boocille wants to come back within him, Luigi hugs her close to his chest to help her feel comforted at least, before she gets absorbed into his body to rest within. As Luigi felt Boocille nestled within him once more, the plumber looked over to the center coffin as he felt curious to check it out. "L-let's check out that c-coffin..." The green stache lectures to go over to the center coffin to see what's inside it.</p><p> </p><p>Swallowing thickly, Hatty <em> did not </em> like the idea of peeking into a coffin. It felt like they were going <em> grave robbing </em> of all things. A cold sweat started up on the back of his neck as they approached the ornate carvings of the coffin. "... t-this feels like a violation of last rites, to be peeking into a coffin. Real or otherwise, it just doesn't feel right... but, I suppose it's a necessity." Trying to pry it open, Hatty struggled and had some considerable difficulty... instead, at the top, was some sort of screaming bat icon. Looked to be rounded with a small lip around the shape. This appeared to be an identifiable feature.</p><p> </p><p>Once Hatty and Luigi try to open up the coffin, the torches all around the room go out, one by one until they are all out and the coffin is completely open. The last of the ghosts was hiding in the center coffin - which was Flappy Flappington. "Ohh~" Luigi peers in with curiosity to see the vampire ghost, but once the ghost's eyes sprang open, the green stache jumps back while feeling scared.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Flappy!</em>" Hatty cried out as the vampire hissed and jeered loudly. "<b><em>Who dares wake me from my slumber, so deep and sincere?! You vile little idiots have caused trouble in these parts, I've heard rumor what'ya've done to the likes of Pete as well! But I'll be sure that you'll not go unpunished, filling your lungs with sand before sending you down to Hell!!</em></b>" Shoving the two back harshly, the duo landed down onto tiles in the floor that clicked. The ghost sped upwards and left the two within the chamber. Around them, the walls closed into a much smaller space before gates high up in the room began to pour out sand. "... oh, God! He's going to bury us alive!"</p><p> </p><p>"<b><em>WAAHHH!!</em></b>" Luigi screams out as he plummeted down the pit head first, luckily there was a pile of sand before landing into it- having the top half of his body with the poltergust sunken in sand and having his legs flailing before remembering long ago to try to pull himself out with his legs. "<em>MMmmpppphhhh!!</em>" He tries to tug himself out, but the vacuum isn't letting him get free as easily as he hoped to get, and probably would need help with Hatty to get him out.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping and rushing to his feet immediately, Hatty yanked Luigi out by the ankles free from the pile of sand. "I got you, friend! Oh, lord, how do we get out of here?! There's no way out, we're stuck!" Turning the vacuum on and sucking up the gravely substance would only prolong the inevitable. "Oh, lord, I don't want to die like this..!"</p><p> </p><p>Turning on his flashlight, Luigi looks around to see if there's any passage out, which was just at the top of the chamber. "L-looks like, th-the exit i-is... Up th-there..." He points the flashlight up to the top of the chamber while the sand is filling up and quickly. Frantic and scared, he remembers back in the Last Resort hotel, he had-to deal with this exact thing, so he gets the idea to use the sand to their advantage, by using the blower function to move the sand closer to the exit.</p><p> </p><p>"... w-what are you doing, Mr. Luigi? H-how can I help?" Hatty could see Luigi formulating a plan, but couldn't <em> quite </em> tell what he was trying to do, unable to focus from the frantic pounding of terror in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>"C-come on, g-get the sand to f-form a h-hill to the exit..." He points to the exit while he keeps on moving the sand with the blower nozzle while it's still filling rapidly while trying to avoid the big spouts of sand pouring in so he doesn't get buried in it. The green plumber sees the sand mold to where he wants it to go as both him and Hatty keep on top of the large sand pile.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding with a frantic pace in his step, Hatty began to blow the sands from one end of the room to the next, then the next. This accumulated it and built it up into a mountainous slope that slowly rounded out to form a pathway up and out of the smothering pit.</p><p> </p><p>Once the pile of sand has reached the exit and connected to it, Luigi climbs up to the exit and gets through it while the sand keeps piling up. "C-come on!" The green stache grabs Hatty's hand to pull him to the exit, since he wasn't fast enough before getting some of his legs buried in sand.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling his shoes fill with sand and struggle, it was good that Luigi managed to pull him out of the dredge before he got swallowed up. Hurrying out of the pit, he kept on Luigi's heels. "L-lead the way, friend, I'm right behind you!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods, "Lets-a go!" He and Hatty kept going up the stairs, though the sand didn't stop. Infect, the sand starts filling up the bottom of the exit and kept coming up through. "<em>Uh oh...</em>" Luigi felt sand in his shoes as well, but he didn't have time to deal with it, since the sand is still after the two and quickly climbs up the stairs. "C-come on, w-we don't have t-time to waste!"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh boy!</em>" Hatty cried out, rushing alongside with Luigi down the winding hallway. It was <em> nuts </em> how fast this sand was welling up... soon, the room behind them was completely filled, going dark as the fine, granulose material began to seep down the corridor.</p><p> </p><p>After turning on the flashlight to see better, the stairs rounded upwards to the previous floor they were on - which didn't take them long to reach. Though, one of the standing coffins leading to the large room before them was blocking the way as Luigi tries to find a hidden switch to open it up before the sand fills up the top of the stairs. "Gah! Wh-where is the switch..?" With Luigi frantic trying to search and feel around for the switch, Hatty was looking for it himself just as he caught up with the plumber.</p><p> </p><p>The chubbier fellow was lagging behind and was pushed out by the sand. From the weight in his shoes, he was forced to kick them off and rush with just his garters on his feet as he looked about. Staring around the walls, he frantically groped for a switch to find the lights... there was nothing! ... but, there was an odd glimmer near the corner. "... Luigi, I think I found something! I need that special darklight!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks over to where Hatty is mentioning, turning on the darklight, the <em> shadow </em> where a button is supposed to become more <em> visible</em>, then a couple ghostly orbs pop out. The green plumber didn't hesitate to switch to the vacuum nozzle to suck up the orbs quickly to get the switch to become fully visible. "<em>Th-there...</em>" He tries to reach the switch, but like last time, he couldn't reach it on his own, just as the sand had reached the top and started covering a little bit of their feet.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the sand beginning to pool, Hatty suddenly dropped down before Luigi, his elbows and knees to the ground with back to the Heavens. "<em>Use me as a step, I'll be fine..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While worried about Hatty, Luigi doesn't hesitate to climb onto Hatty's back to help reach the button as the small area fills up quickly and covers all of the captain and only having the plumber's arm was left. Just barely able to click the switch, the coffin opens up just as when the sand pushes them through the opening and into the large room. Luigi coughs to get the sand out of his airways just as the coffin closes back up to stop the sand from flowing into the large room. "<em>Uugghh... Th-that w-was c-close...</em>" The Italian plumber breathes heavily for a solid minute to try to regulate it again.</p><p> </p><p>Spitting out the sand that pushed into his mouth, Hatty coughed raggedly while fingering out the bits of sediment that was stuck in his teeth. "<em>Guh-- </em> t-thank you, Mr. Luigi. You've saved my skin so much already! I don't know what I would do without you... a-are you alright?" Looking about... crud, seems like the captain had lost his shoes.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Luigi stands up and looks back to the captain. "S-saving each other's h-hides i-is what good teamwork i-is, r-right?" The green plumber smirks a bit as he takes off his shoes - one at a time - to get the sand out and shows his red and white-striped socks. After <em> cleaning </em> out his shoes, Luigi helps Hatty up by handing out his hand.</p><p> </p><p>Taking the other's hand, he was hoisted up onto his shoeless feet, his protective garters protecting his heels and soles from any punishment the ground may have. "Ah... that was... that was <em> scary</em>. I didn't know I had such a fear of being buried alive... granted, when it's happening, it could be <em> any </em> man's fear."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah... It was <em> scary</em>..." Luigi shivers, just <em> thinking </em> about being buried alive and almost was, doesn't help his confidence; but he had-to press on as he puts his shoes back on. Looking around in the darkened large room, he sees that the center coffin is still there, but looking up, but also there's an exit up high. "O-oh no... I-its like th-the last t-time..." Last time... Probably Luigi needs to explain that to Hatty, since the captain has no idea as of <em> why </em> he keeps mentioning that to himself.</p><p> </p><p>"... l-like last time? I-is this another booby trap, do you think?" Hatty watched where Luigi's gaze fell, spotting the high up exit. "Ohh, bollocks... and I see no other means out of this wretched place." Slowly approaching the coffin with <em> great </em> care, he was stopped when the Anubis spirit rose up once again from the wood of the coffin. He <em> feared </em> what may lay beneath the wood... a body? A ghost? Another trap?</p><p> </p><p>Luigi sighs heavily, as he looks back to Hatty, though accidentally shining the light in the captain's eyes... Whoops. "I-I've been th-through this before... I-in a h-haunted hotel... C-called <b>The Last Resort</b>... Th-this is almost th-the same th-thing I had-to deal with, on one o-of the f-floors..." The plumber, after realizing, moves the flashlight out of Hatty's direction. "S-sorry for b-blinding you! I-it's just... K-King B-Boo... H-hates me a-and my b-brother... A-and t-tried c-capture me a-alongside w-with my brother a-as vengeance, t-to h-his boo b-bretherin..." As he walks around the large room, he turns on the darklight to see if <em> anything </em> is hidden inside to figure out a way to get up to the exit up at the top.</p><p> </p><p>Shielding his eyes from the other's flashlight, Hatty squinted with a small whine. When it was turned away, he blinked away the shiny lights that floated in his vision. "It's fine." Listening intently to the other's tale, he felt his stomach drop when he heard that story. "... that explains why he's so <em> bitter </em> and resentful towards everything and seemingly everyone. I know nothing about this Maya character... only that my ship must've been drawn into the epicenter of some sort of... ritual, or revitalization." Sighing, he dragged his feet to a platform that sank down into the ground. With a gasp, he hopped out of it... the one he stood on had a bold symbol on it that read '2'. Opposite of that, there was a '1' platform. Ooh, weighted stones.</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi hears a soft <em> click </em> from Hatty's direction, the plumber jumps a bit and looks back at the captain again, but this time with the darklight. "<em>Wh-what was th-that?!</em>" He yelps, since any kind of surprise noises makes him jump and worry about ghosts coming out.</p><p> </p><p>"I... I-I don't know? It... reads the number "two" on it... I stepped on it, it sank, but nothing happened." He did so again, showing what it did. A rattle, a click... then silence.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nervously walks over to the number 1 tile on the ground after switching back to the flashlight, amid cautiously and Hatty hears a big <em> gulp </em> from the plumber's throat as he steps on it while the captain is on the second one. As the tile sank down with a soft <em> click</em>, the place started to rumble and made the two lose their balance.</p><p>After the switches have been activated, a few large ports high above on the walls open up and start filling with sand... Again, this time in the large room the two are in. Uh oh. With Luigi seeing the sand pouring in, "<em>N-not again!</em>" He quickly gets up from off the ground and tries to climb the quickly forming mountain of sand to keep himself from not getting buried again.</p><p> </p><p>Utilizing the poltergust, Hatty focused on blowing the sand towards the exit and allowing it to well up. As he did this and the sand deepened, he gasped at feeling something grab his legs. Looking down, he was horrified to see <em> hands</em>... mummified, ghostly hands grabbing onto him that began to pull him down. "<em>Luigi!</em>" As the captain was pulled away and down into the sinking sands, the floating head of the imposing Anubis revealed itself again. "<b><em>Har har har har!! I warned you both to turn back when you had the chance!! Now, you will both suffer as many have before you!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"H-Hatty!!" Luigi quickly tries to get to the captain before being pulled in completely, but barely manages to grab his hands and tries to pull Hatty up from under the sand with all his might. While struggling to pull Hatty up, the sand keeps filling the entire room up, which buries half of the plumber's body and up to the captain's neck. It's a losing battle, but while struggling, his mind finally <em> clicks </em> . He grabs the nozzle and uses the <em> burst </em> feature to get himself out of the sand as well as shoving some of the sand away from himself as well as the captain. "<em>C-come on, u-use th-that f-feature..!!</em>" Of course, after that burst, Hatty's lower half was still buried in the sand in hopes for the captain to use the burst feature to get him out of the sticky situation.</p><p> </p><p>Having been pulled to his shoulders, the captain luckily kept his vacuum in one hand. Reaching it through the groping mitts and feeling the sand growing dangerously close to his face, he flipped the switch and gave it a strong burst... with that, he was <em> ripped </em> free from the grasps of the undead and sprang out to freedom, but this also caused the several mummified ghosts to be freed and grow angry. "I-I'll fend them off, Luigi, keep with the exit! I'll distract them!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi agrees as he tries to move the sand to the direction of the exit while Hatty defends the plumber from attacks. Of course, the mummied ghosts notice that Luigi wasn't focused on them as some go to try to attack the green stache while some others keep their focus on Hatty.</p><p>Though, Luigi saw the ghosts coming after him, so he had-to stop what he was doing and try to defend himself by flashing his strobulb at the mummied ghosts to blind them a bit before seeing them run into the wall after moving out the way. "<em>Yikes!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Remembering the trope with the mummies, Hatty found the dangling linen and gave it a good snatch of the vacuum. Catching the ghost and feeling their frantic clawing at the sand, they were left nude... one by one, the comrades ripped off their bindings, but this was wasting too much valuable time. Charging his flash, the captain blinded the ghost, leaving them stiff before rushing to give Luigi a rushed assist with drawing away the charging specter, grabbing its linen and pulling it away. "<em>Quickly, Luigi, we don't have much time left!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty had caught the specters that were distracting Luigi, the plumber continued on to get the sand to connect to the exit while the sand was pretty much close to the ceiling. Once the sand connected to the exit, Luigi rushes over to the exit and leaps in and lends his hand out for Hatty. "H-hatty! C-come on! I-I'm not leaving you behind!" He yells out to the captain, hoping that he'll follow suit before the sand starts to cover the exit.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing up along with Luigi, he wasn't able to draw in <em> every </em> ghost... it was more important to escape this place before they could be suffocated. As the sand drew closer, a door at the end of the hallway seemed to swing open, allowing the two in. Once they entered, this passage was slammed <em> shut </em> behind them, locking without a means of exit that way.</p><p> </p><p>The chamber they were within now was... <em> solid gold</em>. Glistering, shining and brilliant with gems that decorated ornate skulls present in the walls, such lavish and wasteful rich was infuriatingly beautiful. However, there was a <em> deeper </em> sense of dread as there was a golden sarcophagus that rested on its back on the ground before the two now. No switches, no traps, no fronts... it was waiting, tempting. Beautiful baby blue gems dotted the eyes of the pharaoh on the entombment container, a fine silk stuck from the side... this was simply the wool of the sheep.</p><p> </p><p>"... t-this place looks <em> extraordinarily dazzling</em>... ... oh, lord... a gold coffin? What's going to be in there? A <em> diamond mummy </em> ? An <em> obsidian Osiris?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps, seeing the smaller chamber all decked out with <em> riches </em> , though tempting to just suck it all in, he hesitates and continues on to the golden sarcophagus, since <em> anything </em> can set off another trap. Though, with the gems on the golden coffin, he wonders <em> who </em> or <em> what </em> is inside, but the gems were too <em> alluring</em>... As he reaches to touch them, Hatty stops the plumber from doing so by grabbing his arm and pulling him back a bit. "<em>H-hey! Wh-what's the big i-idea?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Don't touch those! </em> Haven't you ever heard of a mummy's curse before?" Hatty wasn't mad, mostly scared that Luigi here was about to do something <em> damning</em>. "The riches in here are all a <em> trick! </em> A way to get someone to take them so it gives cause to be <em> cursed </em> ... you touch the gems, who knows? A famine to the kingdom, a plague onto everyone, <em> death </em> that spreads far and wide, a war that never ends..! You need to take caution with something that seems <em> too good </em> to be true... it might be just <em> that!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Hatty's statement, he felt scared to even <em> touch </em> the gems on the coffin. "Th-then... Wh-what are we going to do..?" Luigi questions as he looks back at the coffin. Though, he thinks a bit and decides to <em> tap </em> onto the lid. After a moment of the sound from inside the coffin was hollow, the plumber tried to push it open... But it wasn't budging whatsoever, since gold is one of the heaviest metals there is.</p><p> </p><p>Going around, Hatty rolled up his sleeve and gave it a go. Pushing didn't work. Turning around and reaching his arms over, pulling yielded no change... then, he began to feel about this thing. His knowledge from many adventures with his paleontologically intelligent brother treated him well. After some pokes and prods, he found a small hatch that was the disguised <em> heka </em> - the Egyptian cane- and upon giving it a good pull, the sarcophagus rumbled before opening. Slowly opening, it wasn't <em> truly </em> empty. Within was a pile of <em> bones </em>... the skull of a large dog- perhaps a wolf- with humanoid bones that were within rotted linen and the ancient soap that was once fat and subcutaneous tissue that'd turned into leather.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, it just smelled of dust and musty towels... and upon looking to the skeletal hand of the bony cadaver, there was something clenched tightly within it. It appeared to be a scroll of some sort, made of an unknown material that was <em> devoid </em> of light reflection.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing the boney body inside the coffin, Luigi felt disgusted from seeing it and looked away from it for a moment, but gulped and peaked inside again, realizing it was the same <em> head </em> they saw before. "<em>I-is this..?</em>" The green plumber questions, though he doesn't know the name of the creature that threatened them - which was Anubis. What neither Hatty nor Luigi knew is that one of the two actually touched the gems without realizing... Oops.</p><p> </p><p>With the gem touched, the tomb began to shake... gems and gold began to crash to the ground as the very <em> roof </em> of the arena was <em> ripped </em> open by an <em> enraged </em> version of the massive hound. Tall, dark and imposing, it <em> roared </em> down to the two words of spite and hate. "<b><em>You both have perversed sacred grounds... therefore, you must both die!! To me, my minions!! Smite these two, that is my decree!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>U-uh oh...</em>" Luigi yelps and tries to dodge the crashing gold and gems that's falling all around, hoping to not get hit in the head. Once being able to not get hit, he looks up and sees the massive hound above them, as well as the void outside, which probably they're close to the outside and above ground. "<em>O-oh no...</em>" The green stache tries to think of a way to get outside from the collapsed ceiling while minions are coming out and closing in on the two as he looks back to Hatty. "L-let's do this..."</p><p> </p><p>Hatty shielded himself from the falling debris, narrowly avoiding being squashed by massive pieces of gold and large gems that fell down. Before them, many more mummies were at the ready to attack, as well as the ghostly mummies from prior that had their bandages ripped off. "Oh boy, they don't look too happy..!!"</p><p> </p><p>"N-nope, th-they don't!" Luigi gulps, as he evades an oncoming onslaught of a few ghosts coming after him by leaping forwards from them to have the ghosts collide with each other. "<em>YAAIIEE!!</em>" Once the ghosts were dizzy, the green-clothed lad turns around and flashes his strobulb once more, stunning them and latches onto them with his suctioning part of his vacuum. Though he was getting more than one at the same time, the resistance was higher than normal; but was able to manage and captures them into his vacuum chamber.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty managed to catch one of the unrobed specters, though was having a harder time. "<b><em>My minions, take my strength!</em></b>" The massive embodiment of death within this chamber rose a hand as his eyes glowed a deep red... the spirit's eyes then shone a similar shade and became faster, more resistant. The one Hatty hat caught managed to not only get free, but <em> cracked </em> its tail like a whip across the captain's face. This left him knocked down and disoriented from the intense, stinging pain, leaving an opening for one of them to grab him by the leg, <em> throwing </em> him as though he weighed nothing against the golden coffin.</p><p> </p><p>Knocked of his wind, Hatty wheezed out as the specters continued their onslaught, one even grabbing Luigi by his <em> mustache!</em> It began to twist at the hairs, causing a good deal of pain. "<em>I've always wanted to rip this stupid nose cozy right off of your face, you stupid poop-sucking loser!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi yelps out in pain, as he tries to hold onto his mustache so it won't get ripped out from his face while it's being twisted. "Ow ow ow ow!! S-stop!" With teary eyes, he uses the burst feature to make the ghost let go of his mustache. While in pain, he angrily flashes his light at the ghost, and tries to wrangle the ghost up; though this time, the resistance was much stronger and harder to capture.</p><p> </p><p>The ghost continued to struggle and thrash, once more, managing an escape. "<b><em>Hrah har har har!! You shall not win this time!</em></b>" "Their strength knows no end, Luigi..! What do we do..?!" Thinking quickly, there was some sort of... dark, almost glowing opal on the creature's collar necklace. It looked like something was hidden beneath the <em> darkness</em>...</p><p> </p><p>Once losing the grip, Luigi spots the glowing opal on the necklace, but once another attack comes his way, he tries to leap out of the way; but gets sideswiped on his side with an attack that he wasn't prepared for. "OOF!" The green-clothed lad gets dragged all the way to one of the large debris on the ground, feeling his side that he got injured before starting to hurt again as he slowly sits up and holds his side with a hiss. "<em>O-ow...</em>" The pain felt worse than before, but when looking up, he noticed Anubis in front of him with a big gulp in his throat and scared. Though, the glowing opal was too alluring... </p><p>Thinking on his feet, he switches his nozzle to the vacuum to try to suck up the opal just as he got the perfect opportunity to try to snag it.</p><p> </p><p>The spirits all circled the two, Hatty trying to get the attacking spirits away from Luigi, but himself was then <em> slammed </em> to the ground and sent tumbling over sharp gems. "<em>Ahh!!</em>" One of the particularly angry mummies hoisted Hatty up by his feet and pulled him up into the air before getting the idea to spin about, getting momentum and <em> throwing </em> him down, causing him to <em> crash </em> into the golden sarcophagus. With a small, whimpering groan, the captain crawled forward, feeling blood pooling in his mouth... he was hurt. <em> Bad</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, the Anubis yelped, suddenly feeling the opal sucked up by the vacuum. Ah-ha! It was a <em> fake </em> gem! Beneath the gem was some sort of target... something with the perfect circumference for a <em> plunger attack!</em> "<b><em>How dare you rob me of my precious jewels!! I'll be sure that you pay dearly!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing the <em> target </em> , Luigi launches the plunger at the necklace and quickly sucks up the knot to have some leverage to pull and yank part of the necklace off of Anubis. "<em>N-not th-this time...</em>" After yanking the necklace off, he notices that Hatty's in trouble and tries to help him by moving himself while Anubis is distracted. "H-hatty!" The green stache tries to find something to help the captain up and hopes to get him to safety... But both of them are surrounded, and scared for his life, as well as Hatty's.</p><p> </p><p>One ring snapped off, falling apart and turning into dust, leaving the bottom of the creature's neck exposed. Enraged, it <em> howled </em> out in rage and smashed its fists on the sides of the building, causing it to violently shake. This even <em> disoriented </em> the other ghosts!</p><p> </p><p>Spitting up a clot of blood, Hatty's chest sounded in a <em> bad </em> way. The impact must've made his organs shift, causing his lungs to bruise and bleed. Worse yet, he must've been bleeding <em> bad </em> on the inside from how hard he hit that gold coffin. "<em>L-Luigi, loo... look out!</em>" Shakily, Hatty pointed up his flashlight and blinded an incoming ghost. "<em>... he-he isn't focused..! T-the ghosts are weakened, suck them up..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Noticing the ghosts have been weakened, Luigi leaves Hatty behind to defend the captain by latching onto the ghost and unraveling it to get it vulnerable and be able to stun it. While sucking it up and was finally successful, it spat out a silver heart and bounces to Hatty while the green plumber focuses on another ghost and does the same thing to it, though while trying to dodge their attacks and gets hit by a couple of them.</p><p> </p><p>Coughing out, Hatty saw the heart and scrambled forward to grab it. With his hand touching it, it faded into him... his insides healed, he could breathe, and he was back up on his feet. "<em>Phew!</em>" Up once more, he saw that Anubis turned his gaze back into the two, eyes once again shining crimson as the ghosts became stronger and more resistant. "Luigi, what did you do to weaken the specters?"</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi wasn't able to capture any more ghosts, he had-to focus on Anubis once again, though trying to make sure he and Hatty don't get hit by the other ghosts. Seeing the opal was back onto Abubis' necklace, Luigi forms a plan. "<em>You t-try to d-distract this guy, while I-I try to get t-the gem off his n-necklace and t-try to break i-it off of him...</em>" The Italian plumber whispers to Hatty while having his own body quiver a bit from having his heart race and scared.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head with a look of determination, Hatty rushed over to sarcophagus... he got the <em> maddest </em> idea, yanking up one of the gems. "<em>Hey, you big dumb doggy! I got one of your precious gems!</em>" "<b><em>UNHAND MY RICHES, YOU DISGUSTING FIEND!!</em></b>" The Anubis form tried to grab for him, but its hand couldn't reach as it continued to rake fingers after the captain. "<em>Now, Luigi!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once the opportunity strikes, Luigi sucks the opal off of the necklace once more, as well as plungered the <em> target </em> and yanking another ring off of it with much force he could muster. Though, just as when the ring was knocked off, the green lad gets sideswiped from one of the ghosts, knocking him to the golden sarcophagus. That strike <em> definitely </em> knocked the wind out of his lungs and coughs while trying to breathe. "<em>M-mama M-mia...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Luigi!!</em>" Hatty rushed over as the Anubis thrashed about angrily at another ring being taken. Swiftly, he flashed brightly at the specters before pulling Luigi away and behind him, drawing one of them into his vacuum. Battering the specter about, he drew one in... then another... one of them dropped a few smaller hearts, maybe just enough to get Luigi back onto his feet! Seems that the silvery heart was a rarity.</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi had absorbed the smaller heart, at least it recovered a little bit of his <em> health </em> and helped regain his strength a bit as well as regulating his breathing. "Th-thank you, Hatty..." Luckily there are only a couple ghosts left, but with Anubis' rage, he starts throwing his magic attacks at the two; just like how Kamik, the magikoopas that Luigi remembers seeing, though without a wand whatsoever.</p><p>The green plumber notices the new attacks and yelps out as he tries to maneuver out of the way, not knowing what the magic would do if he gets hit with one. "<em>O-oh no!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Bollocks--!</em>" Hatty swore out as a magical projectile managed to catch him. Mild damage, and it caught him in some sort of magic bubble that he started to pound the inside of. Shoot, he got stuck! And he was drifting upwards! The malicious spirits chuckled... though thankfully, there was no shortage of sharp projectiles to use to free the man! While this was happening, the creature above them seemed to... start to wobble in and out of existence as the necklace broke and the center began to fray away...</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi was trying to find the right opportunity to strike Anubis, the magic attacks weren't as frequent when he kept teleporting around the collapsed chamber. Seeing Anubis behind him, the green plumber quickly whips out his vacuum and sucks up the gems on his necklace again so he can yank off another ring with the plunger.</p><p> </p><p>Another ring of the necklace snapped, causing great distress by the false image of the ancient god. Howling out in aggravated panic, the hound's massive hands gripped the top of the tomb and <em> ripped </em> it off, leaving the lot <em> completely </em> exposed. "<b><em>You're trying my patience, you insignificant worms!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>While the necklace was about to break off, the sand castle started to crumble all around, including the room of riches. Quick, short, but violent shakes rattle the small dimension, just like the last one they were in. As this is happening, Anubis was in rage, throwing more magic attacks more frequently as well as teleporting in and out of existence.</p><p>This time, Luigi wasn't able to dodge one of the magic attacks and gets hit from one of them - which was a fire-elemental attack and catches his clothing and hat on <em> FIRE!! </em>"<b><em>AAHHHH!! HOT HOT HOT!!</em></b>" The green plumber tries to put out the fire from himself as quickly as he could as well as taking his hat off and stomps on it to get the fire put out. He didn't want to ruin his hat, but he loves his hat and didn't want to lose it, so he puts it back on his head after shaking it a bit. It's a little dingy and dirty thanks to the fire and his shoe, but it's better than losing the hat <em> permanently</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Horrified at seeing his friend becoming immolated, Hatty barked up to the hound personification of death. "<em>Hey, you big mutt!! Light someone ablaze your own size! You want to be a man and fight us, or you'd rather stay big, you bloated bully!</em>" His words came back to haunt him dearly as the creature reared a hand and <em> smacked </em> Hatty with the back of it, sending him skidding and <em> off </em> the edge of the tower! He cried out, but with quick thinking, used his vacuum to grab onto the tail of an ascending ghost. It panicked and began to flail about madly, but returned to the platform before the captain sucked it up. "<em>Phew... </em> t-that was way too close!!"</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi spotted Anubis attacking Hatty, he zips over to the captain to help him up. "<em>A-are you o-okay..?</em>" He worriedly asks him. Though with the creature in front of the two, Luigi had-to think quickly before being attacked himself! He sucks up the gems one last time on his necklace to expose it's weak spot and tries to shoot the plunger, but he misses this time! Since Anubis became wise and teleported away before the plunger landed onto the necklace.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ack!</em> I'm fine... just happy I didn't fall. Where did that bugger--" Looking up, Anubis was <em> frothing </em> in rage, opening his mouth... a <em> deafening </em> scream escaped him, and the ghosts started to <em> transform </em> . Their bodies changed and they gained stumpy legs, hippo-like bodies and crocodile heads. Oh, jeez... they were all turned into tiny, terrible Ammits! "<b><em>Attack them, my loyal pets, and bring me their hearts for judgement!</em></b>" "Uh-oh..!"</p><p> </p><p>Feeling scared, Luigi backs up a bit as they see the mummies transform into more vicious creatures and gulps. "<em>Wh-what are we g-going to do n-now..?</em>" The green stache looks up to Hatty, as he ran out of ideas and can feel that Boocille is still recovering from earlier, since he hasn't heard a peep from her and worries about her state as well.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the creatures coming along, Hatty noticed how the building around them had collapsed... fell down in a spiral, that went up! Grabbing the plumber by one of his overall straps, he pulled him up and <em> sprinted </em> up the circling rubble, away from their snapping maws. "<em>Up this way, quickly!! We have no time to waste! I know what we must do!</em>" "<b><em>DO NOT LET THEM SUCCEED, GET THEM!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi yelps as he gets dragged from Hatty up the spiraling rubble while the transformed mummies come after the two. "ACK!!" While being dragged from the captain, he tries to flash the strobulb at the creatures to keep them at bay for a short moment before they try to chase them again.</p><p> </p><p>The crocodile's shining eyes were weak to the flash, causing them to be frozen with cathartic faces of shock on them before they shook off and continued their trudge forward. Rushing upwards, going from holding his strap to his hand, Hatty made sure to pull Luigi forward to prevent him from being the victim of these snapping gators. "<em>We need to get that last bit of his necklace off, that might show a means of getting him weak!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yeah, th-that's if I-I can g-get the l-last shot..!!</em>" Luigi yelps once one of the gators try to snap at his legs and instantly moves his legs away from danger while looking around to see where Anubis is... Which, he couldn't see him.</p><p> </p><p>Making sure Luigi got some headway, Hatty charged up the gust and <em> blew </em> the crocs back, causing some ghosts to tumble off the side of the plummet. Seems they were a bit more dense and couldn't float quite as well. "<em>Back, stay back! Back, I say!</em>" Anubis was more focused on keeping his eyes glued to the crocodile's advance than he was in minding where Luigi was going, hissing and spitting out insults as the green plumber advanced to the last of the necklace...</p><p> </p><p>When seeing Anubis, Luigi hopes to snap the plunger and fire it off while he was distracted of insulting the poor plumber, though barely avoiding a few magic projectiles, he fires the plunger at the necklace, finally latching on and yanks the last ring off - which it fell off and crashed to the ground and the Italian plumber was able to yank the necklace off and crashes it to the ground, shattering it into millions of pieces! What a huge blow that Anubis suffered, but with the creature weakened enough, Luigi shines the strobulb light at him, in hopes of stunning Anubis.</p><p> </p><p>The ripping off of the piece of the necklace caused the Anubis to be distracted enough to catch the strobe light... with that, Hatty made swift work in catching the reformed opal, ripping off the <em> final </em> piece of necklace! With it gone, his body began to glow and he flailed as weakness overtook him. The massive form shrank down, and the swarm of crocodile-like ghosts were reduced back to their typical states... now, the once horrific God of death was nothing more... than a small, yipping puppy. With a tiny voice, it decreed. "<b><em>YOU SHALL BOW TO ME!! I AM THE FEARSOME GOD OF DEATH!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Anubis nothing more than a small ghost puppy, Luigi fires the strobulb at the puppy once more to stun him. "<em>N-not this t-time...</em>" Switching the vacuum nozzle, he tries to capture the small pooch. Even with Anubis being in a weakened state, the resistance was high and took a bit to try to suck him up into his vacuum. With a couple slams onto the ground, the pooch was weakened even more so to be successfully captured into his poltergust chamber. "Gotcha!"</p><p> </p><p>The mangy looking mutt put up a damn good fight, thrashing and digging against the ground in an attempt to get away, growling and yelling as he was flipped and forced down into the vacuum. Although this creature was defeated, the lesser specters didn't seem to taper off! "<em>Bugger!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Unbeknownst to Luigi and Hatty, Flappy has been watching the battle from afar while the sand castle crumbles even further to the point that it's now open to the void all around, and most of the debris has turned to sand. Luckily that the two heroes had escaped the falling debris and sand, before they realized where they were...</p><p>Luigi felt scared, seeing the void surrounding the smaller open space like the previous pocket dimension they were in before, but the lesser specters kept on trying to attack the captain and the plumber, which prompted the two to <em> take care </em> of them by capturing most of them before one of the two notices Flappy from high above- <em> watching </em> and <em> planning</em>... Just what is the vampire ghost up to..?</p><p> </p><p>Looking up to the skies, Hatty squinted his eyes when he spotted Flappy. "<em>Give up, Flappy! Your hound has been defeated, you're not going to win this!</em>" He cried up, only to hear the vampire laughing. He watched as the sinister presence seemed to calculate something. How... fragile, and <em> manipulated </em> that the man's mind could be. Considering the facts that a vampire's greatest ability is his... manipulation, his <em> hypnotism</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that Hatty had spotted him, Flappy floats down to the ground with a sinister smile while Luigi hides behind the captain and shivers in fear, with his teeth chattering. "<em>So you have, but now you'll have-to face </em> <b> <em>ME!!</em></b>" With a booming voice, the vampire has his body turn into lots of small ghost bats and flies all around, not knowing where they'll come back together again.</p><p>Having the small bats fly all around them, he tries to cover himself while the small bats try to attack the poor plumber. "<em>P-Please... STOP!!</em>" He triggers the burst function to blow away the bats around him and Hatty, but also moves some sand as well as the captain... Whoops.</p><p> </p><p>Being bitten by the flying pests, Hatty cried out and swung the nozzle around in hopes to knock them away. When the burst hit the ground, the poor man went airborne and bounced on his rump with a few bumps. "<em> Owchie..! </em> " He got up, rubbing his sore rump as he saw the vampire begin to solidify. "<em>Enough of these tricks, Flappy! I know you remember me!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After <em> solidifying </em> himself, "<em>I'm not finished!</em>" Flappy uses his mind-tricks to control the sands, creating a small hill snake coming out from the sands and towards to the two. During its travels, spikes comes out from the sands which can do <em> serious </em> damage to both of them. Luigi notices and tries to leap out of the way, but it actually follows one of the two. Luigi felt scared, not wanting to get hit from <em> any </em> of those spikes and keeps running away as it kept following him. "<b><em>WWAAAHHHHH!!</em></b>" The plumber cried out, hoping it'll stop.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty, being the slower of the two, tried to get back up onto his feet but was much slower than the more physically fit Luigi. The creature's unusual physiology <em> bored </em> into the captain's side, causing <em> heavy </em> bleeding damage, leaving him with severe gashing in his side. Unable to get out of the way, Hatty was left to bleed on the pile of sand, groaning in anguish. "<em>Auuugh..!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing how Hatty has gotten injured and Luigi is still trying to run away from the spikes coming from the ground, Flappy floats over to the captain with a sinister laugh. "<em>Just as slow as usual, Hatty..~ HAHAHAHAHA!!</em>" Leaning down, he can <em> smell </em> the delicious blood while having his head next to Hatty's shoulder. "<em>I'm going to </em> <b> <em>enjoy</em> </b> <em> draining you dry..~ Heh heh heh..~</em>"</p><p>Just as when Flappy was about to bite onto Hatty's neck, Luigi had circled around and unknowingly rammed into the vampire ghost; knocking him away from Hatty and the plumber tripped over the captain. Luckily after knocking the vampire away, the trail of spikes had stopped just before it reached the captain again and barely missed him, but it did have part of his clothing ripped through.</p><p> </p><p>Flinching when he thought the vampiric spirit was about to drain him dry, he was thankful that Luigi came over to knock that specter away! "<em>Oh... Luigi, thank... thank you..!</em>" He panted out in frantic joy, but was swiftly becoming weak. His fingertips were becoming pale and clammy, his face felt cold with a lightness to his lips. He was becoming pallor as his body lost more than what it would afford. "<em>Th... g... ge... get, hi... him into... sunlight... he won't... he'll get weak!</em>" Crying out, he tried to pull himself up, but his injuries kept him grounded. Those spikes left him looking like a block of Swiss!</p><p> </p><p>Well, that's <em> if </em> there's any sunlight in the void, as Luigi gets up and flashes the strobulb at Flappy... But the vampire just laughs from the sudden bright light flash. "<em>You think that pesky light can stun me?! I think </em> <b> <em>NOT!!</em></b>" With one swift move, the vampire ghost knocks Luigi high into the air with a large mound of sand right under him.</p><p>Luigi flails and yelps out as he tries to get himself to hope to land on his feet as he comes back down, but that didn't work out too well and having his upper half of his body stuck under the sand like last time. Though he's trying his hardest to pull himself out of the sand as quickly as possible with his legs before suffocating, he didn't realize that Flappy was coming close to him. "<em>Good... Now that you're stuck, I can do... </em> <b> <em>THIS!!</em></b>" Flappy hisses, having more sand come in a wave to help bury both Hatty and Luigi completely so they couldn't escape. "<em>It's only a matter of time now...</em>" Flappy laughs while floating around, feeling victorious.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was crushed beneath the sand... it was enough to staunch the bleeding for now, but it was pressing his chest, causing him to lose his last breath of air. Slowly, the sand was beginning to serve as the captain's tomb, as the light slowly began to fade from him. He felt his strength waning, not even able to call for help. The last thing he consciously thought of as all went foggy were the <em> haunting </em> words of his ghostly brother. "<em>It's your fault... it's your fault...</em>" Over, and over, breaking all manner of resolve.</p><p> </p><p>Though while Luigi was completely stuck under the sand, he couldn't breathe very well under the sand and couldn't move. The triggers to help activate the burst function was jammed, thanks to the sand. With one last ditch effort, he calls out for Boocille deep within his subconscious, in hopes to find a way to break out of the sand.</p><p> </p><p>Within the depths of Luigi's mind, Boocille was in a daze... but hearing the man's cries and realizing the plumber in <em> critical </em> danger, she <em> knew </em> she had to do something! Taking deep breaths, the frustration and anger she felt made her feel... different. Within a crucial moment, a <em> wave </em> of energy burst from Luigi's form, allowing him to break free. Though... something equally changed about him. His hair and mustache had turned a blushing yellow, and nose had a pinkish hue to it... it seems that Boocille granted him a bit <em> more </em> than just her spectral abilities. Seems as though she gave a <em> lot </em> to the plumber, in hopes he could be saved from a terrible fate! Albeit this was temporary, would be a shock if he looked in a mirror.</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi bursting out from the sands, he can feel... More energized, but not much in control of himself, as the different <em> look </em> onto his hair and mustache as well as a yellowish aura all around his body and his eyes glowing yellow. His timid nature has gone out the window for now and his bravery has skyrocketed! "<em>You're not getting away with this!!</em>" With a loud <em> click</em>, the nozzle's vacuum turns on, which becomes <em> much </em> more powerful, thanks to electricity coming from a hidden plug deep under the sands that had gotten revealed after bursting out from it. "<em>WHAT?!</em>" While the vacuum sucks up so much sand and debris, Flappy notices this and tries to get away from such a powerful suction. "<em>JUST WAIT UNTIL KING BOO GETS YOOOUUU---</em>" The vampire ghost gets captured into the poltergust chamber so quickly after he got caught into the powerful vacuum suction. </p><p>After the last ghost gotten captured, Luigi kept sucking most of the sand with the more powerful vacuum to help uncover Hatty that's buried under the sand while the void starts to shrink more quickly and the portal opens up in the middle.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille lent not only her power, but her very <em> being </em> to Luigi... she was still there, but in her weakened state, wasn't able to give him her abilities third partly. Instead, she merged with his <em> soul</em>. This could be something that could deeply impact her for the rest of her days, but she took the risk. Her strength, her curiosity, her determination <em> spilled </em> into Luigi's essence. From the liver, to the heart, to the brain: he was changed. While not permanent, it would be a while until she could muster the strength to split without injuring herself or Luigi's core.</p><p> </p><p>Rushed out of the brick sands, Hatty's lips began to purple as his eyes were dullened. He was stiff, limbs felt cold and he was barely breathing. It seems the spikes managed to <em> hit </em> something <em> within </em> him. Thankfully, between the shrinking walls of this chamber, something dropped from the confusion... a large, <em> golden </em> heart that twinkled. It looked so alluring, how it quivered prettily. This <em> had </em> to be used on the captain, since his <em> spleen </em> was what was injured. There was no time to get him to the doctors, he'd already lost so much blood, most of which was pooling in him and pressing against his insides. This heart <em> had </em> to be used, or Hatty was going to die.</p><p> </p><p>Once the golden heart was seen and Hatty had been completely uncovered, Luigi turns off the vacuum and gets the poltergust G-00 from the plug to disconnect and go back to its original state. As the golden heart was bouncing toward the plumber, he switched to the blower nozzle to blow it over to Hatty instead. While Boocille had merged within his very <em> being </em> , having Luigi see the blood isn't affecting him this time around once he walks over to him after the golden heart had absorbed the captain and kneels down to him, "<em>Don't you worry, Hatty, I'll get you out of here.</em>" With Boocille's voice mixing with Luigi's, the plumber picks Hatty up from the ground, carrying him over his shoulders and quickly rushes to the portal just before the dimension collapses completely - which thankfully, they barely escaped like last time.</p><p>After Luigi and Hatty had come out of the other side of the portal, the opening had collapsed and the portrait had gone back to normal. The small cabin they're in, had reverted back to just a normal cabin without any of the traps. Luigi/Boocille set Hatty down gently and turned to the portrait of the several toads, turning his darklight on and spitting out all of the toads at once and onto the floor. The toads felt scared from just being released, but noticing Luigi, they all came and hugged all around him. "<em>Alright, you're all okay~</em>" Luigi chuckles, though the toads didn't notice the voice change.</p><p> </p><p>With the golden heart merging into Hatty, he was initially unresponsive, but the throttling from being thrown from the portal jostled him and caused him to cough. At last, he was breathing stronger! Gasping and panting, Hatty slowly came to with dreary eyes seeing the outlines of a few people now... that was, before he crashed again. He must've just been weak, but would recover.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Luigi!!</em>" The toads ran over, hugging his legs and nuzzled their fungal caps against his knees. "You're okay!" "You saved us!" "Thank you! Oh, thank you so, so much!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smiles and pats the toads on their mushroom caps. "<em>Let's get you all to our safe place on this ship.</em>" The green plumber walks over to Hatty after the toads let go of him, picking the captain up and carrying him back out of the cabin and to the loading docks along with the toads. Though, Luigi found the pixelator television nearby and pulled the lever. The pixelator activates and transports all the toads, Luigi and Hatty back to Gadd's lab.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>As Luigi gives an escort for the toads to Gadd's lab, one of the ghosts was hiding, seeing what has transpired, and noticing how Luigi's yellow aura, hair, mustache, eyes and pink nose is <em> clearly </em> visible. The ghost runs off to inform Maya and King Boo about its findings.</p><p>Once the ghost has reached King Boo and Maya in their super secret hiding area on the ship, the ghost relays the information to the two, letting them know that the toads from toad town had been freed, as well as Luigi looking a little different than what they remember. "<em>Hmm... How intriguing.</em>" Maya rubs his chin, wondering how Luigi had that kind of power from within.</p><p> </p><p>King Boo pondered the possibilities, gasping when he realized. "<b><em>AUUUGH!! BLAST!! That little bastard discovered that she can merge with one's very soul, making herself and host far more powerful! But how?!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hmm, it could be an advantage for that plumber to utilize her abilities, but I have a feeling, it won't last.</em>" Maya smirks, as he formulates an idea. "<em>When the time comes...</em>" Maya floats over to King Boo's side and whispers to him the idea that he came up with, in case they both come across that exact situation with Luigi and Boocille.</p><p> </p><p>Quirking his brow when he felt Maya pull him over, a smirk creeped across his face before breaking into a full, toothy smarmy grin. "<em>Ooh, that is </em> <b> <em>sinfully</em> </b> <em> brilliant..~ positively </em> <b> <em>devious</em></b><em>!</em>" His stumpy hands rubbed together, chuckling eagerly.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, and once we see them, we'll force them to separate as well, when they least expect it!</em>" Maya laughs as he formulates more of the plan to make sure the heroes don't succeed in thwarting their own plans of ruling the world, not just the Mushroom Kingdom.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Harharhar..~ once the plumbers are put in their place, forced to become one of </em> <b> <em>us</em> </b> <em> ... perhaps, we may even get you back into the flesh. Have you reach your full power. I can handle the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland, those impotent koopas would trip on their own two feet without someone standing in. Can keep those shells as our weapons... there's more value there than what those idiotic bimbos realize is there! And it shall be </em> <b> <em>ours</em> </b> <em> for the reaping. Nothing can hold us back anymore. I can set fire the "precious legacy" of those plumbers and let it be lost to history. It would be a new dawn, a new age! Our days of endless frivolity..~ </em>"</p><p><br/>"<em>It'll be perfect! Heh heh heh...</em>" While the two formulate a sinister plan, the ghost that related the information had run off to gather more information and whereabouts on the ship.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Severe Injuries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After getting back to the loading docks, Luigi had set Hatty down with Dorchester and Kev, to help assess the damage from what he had-to go through. Of course, the two docs notice the pink looks on Luigi.</p><p> </p><p>Once back, the doctors spotted Hatty and were immediately concerned from his lack of consciousness. Thankfully, the worst he had was just a bit of bruising. "... his clothes are ripped to <em> tatters!</em> What on God's green Earth happened? And, Luigi... you're <em> yellow!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi didn't notice that a few of his facial features had turned <em> yellow</em>, but was more concerned about Hatty's health. "<em>I am?</em>" Though after the docs mention them, he looks at himself as he sees the yellow aura surrounding him, but goes to find a mirror to check - but the docs provided one for the green plumber. "<em>Wh-- what happened to me?!</em>" With a frightened look, he quickly calmed down, which was unusual for Luigi to do. "<em>Hmm... Looks like that our spirits merged when Luigi was in peril.</em>" His voice sounded like both the plumber's and Boocille's, which the docs catch on and realize what has happened, and mainly Boocille is in control of the Italian lad.</p><p> </p><p>Both of the doctors were befuddled by such a development, looking at each other without any answers. "... all... all we can truly offer is a possible explanation? Seems that with a spirit being within you, she was grasping at straws, considering the state of Captain Hatty... and yourself, to a degree... she might've fallen into a fit of panic and made herself <em> part </em> of you, for the time being. No idea how any of this mumbo jumbo works, but that's <em> one </em> hypothesis." Dorchester scratched his head, trying to listen to himself on how <em> that </em> made any sense.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was checked on by a few of the other crew members, who still seemed a bit irked by his outburst before. "... you think he's okay?" "I dunno... he seems to be in one piece. ... you think he'll ever be alright after this?" "... he probably blames himself for what happened." "Didn't help what his <em> own </em> brother said to him... using your own brother against you? This Boo guy and Maya fellow are <em> messed up</em>."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hmm...</em>" Boocille tries to recall what happened between her and Luigi as she gets her host to rub his nose with his finger. "<em>From what I recall, Luigi was desperately calling for help, once I noticed him and Hatty buried in sand in another pocket dimension and were suffocating.</em>" She mentions the docs. "<em>I've felt some sort of </em> <b> <em>rage</em> </b> <em> deep within, which caused me to merge with the sweet plumber that kept me safe from King Boo.</em>" While relaying the information from Luigi's memories to Kev and Dorchester, she explains what <em> really </em> happened in the dimension, and how <em> injured </em> Hatty was before he absorbed a golden heart that spawned out of nowhere, and pretty much healed the captain up almost completely.</p><p> </p><p>"... wow... So Luigi truly owes you quite a bit in there, Ms. Boocille. You saved not only him, but our captain as well! On behalf of our captain, our ship and <em> us</em>, we thank you. From the fullest of our hearts, we'll always remember your selfless sacrifices that you've made from now until everyone is freed. We'll always keep this close to us, and give you our dearest thanks."</p><p> </p><p>Boocille felt bashful with his cheeks blush and tried to hide it with his hat from all the loving compliments from Kev and Dorchester. The toads, meanwhile, come around and hug Luigi and feel happy they have their hero to rescue them as well as the others. "<em>OOF! Okay, you all get hugs!</em>" Boocille lifts the toads one at a time to hug them and sets them back down, though one of the toads notice the different <em> look </em> on Luigi, as well as another notice the different <em> voice </em> from him.</p><p> </p><p>However, as the moments went on, Boocille's influence slowly waned from Luigi's form. It was something that couldn't be sustained for long... eventually, the yellow hue and gentle flush left Luigi's form and left him as the usual, brown-haired plumber that he was before. That curiosity and uninhibited excitement tapered off to leave him in his usual, 'vanilla' state. It would surely warrant an explanation to why he felt, and smelled, so... cherryish!</p><p> </p><p>After Boocille had hugged all of the toads the green plumber felt <em> woken up </em> after the influence from the cute boo inside him had faded and shook his head. Looking around, he felt clueless of <em> how </em> he got back to the loading docks. "<em>Wh..? Wh-what happened..?</em>" Luigi felt confused, since last he remembered of being trapped in the sands and now in the safe place on the ship.</p><p>While Luigi felt confused, Gadd eventually came out from his lab to check up on Luigi. "Luigi! How are you feeling? You weren't... <em> Yourself </em> when you came back." "<em>I-I wasn't..?</em>" Luigi stutters as his mind doesn't have <em> any </em> recollection of what happened in a brief time in the sandy pocket dimension. "Come, let's get you back to the lab to set more of the crew free." Gadd gestures to him to come along to the lab. Luigi agrees and follows along to do just that. Though, the toads follow along because they feel happy that their hero is back to normal and okay.</p><p>As Luigi unloads the ghosts into the vault to be transferred to the extractor, he tries to communicate with Boocille within him, hoping that she's okay. .oO( <em> B-Boocille..? Are you okay..? I-I'm sorry th-that I've put you th-through all of th-this... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Within the hull of his soul, he could hear a very soft noise. .oO( <em> ... I'm okay... just, very weak... I gave you what I could in that moment. I gave you my all... for a time, we were one. It took a lot out of me, but I'll be okay, I promise. </em> ) Her little, soft voice squeaked out with a yawn. .oO( <em> I just need a nap and I'll be able to recharge my battery... </em> ) The toads seemed unaffected by seeing Boocille taking charge of Luigi's shell for a time, instead seeming quite thankful that both of them saved the lot from a terrible fate indeed.</p><p> </p><p>Gradually, Hatty came to, sitting up on the cot he was set on after he was given a thorough exam by the doctors. "<em>... wha..? </em> Ack-- ou... w-what happened to me? My clothes look like I lost a battle with a cave bear and limped away." "... well-" Dorchester began. "It's a bit of a story."</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> O-oh... Th-that's what happened to b-both of us... Th-though, i-if only, I can find a way to help you recharge... </em> ) Luigi thought to Boocille, as his stomach started to growl again. Though the ghosts that were ejected into the vault took their time to reach the extractor and spit out the ghosts one by one, Anubis is kept locked up in the vault, since he wasn't part of the crew, but probably part of King Boo's army...</p><p>Though the poor pooch felt neglected by King Boo long ago and would need some help being purified from the corruption, which Gadd quickly gets to work on helping the little ghost pooch.</p><p>After the new crew mates got spat out, most of the crew mates ran out of the lab while Flappy stayed behind as he got up and brushed himself off. "Thank you for freeing me, sir Luigi." The vampire crew mate smirks as he shows his fangs a bit, but that freaked the plumber out and tried to hide behind the chair. "No need to be afraid. Even though I'm a vampire, I don't intend to hurt you."</p><p> </p><p>Boocille was left to rest within Luigi's body, becoming latent- inactive- while recovering. Breathing out softly, she was going to be alright and would be able to recoup well enough before the next dive into the ship. Their numbers were steadily growing against this massive army of collected specters and reformed crew members. Now, with a vampire on their side, perhaps this mate could prove especially useful!</p><p> </p><p>Slowly ascending from the cot, Hatty wandered back to the lab where much of the crew was collected. Taking in a breath, he pushed past that... oddly bulky, heavy feeling in his limbs and approached the others. Some turned to him and welcomed him with smiles. "Captain!" "Hello. How... ah... how is everyone fairing?" "Good, seeing that you're okay. Seeing how your suit was ripped up, we were terrified that you were nearly killed... but Luigi and Boocille saved you! We don't know what we'd do without our captain, and Luigi would be down a <em> very </em> reliant partner in taking back our mighty ship!" The comments helped make the man smile again, but... something was definitely wrong. That typically friendly twinkle in his eye was dullened. Not in a physiological sense, he was physically healthy now, healed and all. But something was wrong with the <em> mind</em>.</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi senses Boocille went into hibernation and Hatty feeling sad, the plumber walks over to the captain and pats his arm gently. "A-at least you're okay." He softly smiles, as Gadd finds a way to purify Anubis and activates the purification on him. "This'll take a bit, but once this pooch gets purified, he'll be good as new~" The professor informs, as it doesn't take long for the ghost dog to get purified and gets released.</p><p>Boy, Anubis felt a whole lot chipper and happier as it launched itself at Hatty, prompting the captain to catch him and having licks all over his face. Luigi chuckles to see the dark ghost pooch so happy and cheerful, as he reaches to pet Anubis gently along with the captain. Though, that made the plumber remind himself of his own Polterpup, and worries about him... But his thoughts get interrupted as the smell of food coming from outside the lab and from the loading docks. Gordon and Chef bring more delicious food to help feed the crew mates, as well as the new ones and the toads as Luigi follows the smell with a big smile to his face, smelling the aroma. Of course, the other crew mates follow suit to get some food down their bellies.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling the pup jump into his arms, Hatty was pulled from the stupor and chuckled softly. "Ahh- aww, hehe! Hi, you! ... aww, were you that big bad Anubis? Oh, my, you're just a sweetie! You're so sweet, aren't you?" He held the pup in his arms, feeling the tiny dog lapping his face before joyfully yipping. "Ooh..~ such a good boy." Gordon and Chef came out with a large cart with some supper ready. "Considering the moon is high in the sky, we assumed it was a good time to prepare something to eat! You have been gone for a while, so it's safe to assume you've worked up an appetite."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ohh! </em> Mama mia!" Luigi's eyes widen, seeing the delicious supper as he takes his portion of it. Thanking the cooks, he starts chowing down after sitting close by as if it was his last meal. This wasn't normal for his normal appetite, though with Boocille within him, he must be feeding not only himself, but the cute boo as well to help her recharge faster and better.</p><p>While Luigi is gouging on the food and making sure he doesn't make a <em> complete </em> mess on himself, Boocille can feel the energy pouring into her more quickly than usual. Though, both he and Boocille would need that energy for later on.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, the little specter felt the energy return to her. While she didn't take a <em> massive </em> amount, she still needed that living energy to feed off of in order to regain her strength much more quickly. In her rest, it seeded through her, giving her what she'd need in order to back the plumber up and assist him with fighting further into the future.</p><p> </p><p>As everyone rested and the rescued crew mates regaled their tales, Hatty was enjoying some food with this new little friend. Though, he seemed... sluggish in his eating. Not that he was disinterested, but that he was moving slower than he usually would, noting his usual eagerness to eat. The memories that flooded back to him in his near-death experience left him feeling like there was lead in his fingers and bricks in his feet. Why did he feel this... <em> heavy </em> ? Unusually so... and the thought of adventure and saving the ship this time simply filled him with <em> dread </em> . He <em> never </em> felt that way before.</p><p> </p><p>After a while; the toads, the crew mates, Luigi and Hatty had finally finished their meals. The green plumber was <em> way </em> more stuffed than normal, as if he was <em> starving </em> for a few days - even though he ate a little bit earlier from the pizza. With a loud burp, he covers his mouth as he wipes his face. "Ahh, e-excuse-a me..." Luigi blushes a bit, as he pats his belly while worried about his manners. Some of the crew mates laugh from the Italian plumber burping as a few don't mind letting out their burps to help relieve some stress in their stomachs.</p><p> </p><p>Many didn't mind, of course. Though Hatty himself did seem to be staring off into space. "... captain Hatty? ... captain Hatty!" One cried out, finally wrangling his attention. "Ah- oh! I'm so sorry. I was lost in thought." "Chasing daydreams are we? I haven't seen you so distracted before."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi notices the other crew mates not worrying about their own manners, reminds himself of his own brother not worrying much of his own manners while he's alone eating. The green plumber looks up to Hatty, who was distracted and pats his arm, hoping to help him focus a bit as well as help him feel better. "A-are you okay..?" Luigi asks the captain in a calm voice.</p><p> </p><p>The captain looked to Luigi and put on a brave, happy face. Shoving his emotions to the side, he grinned it off. "I'm fine! Just a bit tired and sore is all. I think after some food and rest, I'll feel better, for sure."</p><p> </p><p>"A-are you sure..? I-it doesn't seem l-like you're o-okay, m-mentally..." Luigi can tell that Hatty isn't okay in his mind, "<em>I-is it because... O-of your b-brother..?</em>" The green plumber quietly asks, since he had-to deal with this sort of thing with his own brother long ago.</p><p> </p><p>With a small choked sound, Hatty shook his head and hands in an attempt to shake off any concern. "It-it's fine! I know that my brother isn't <em> himself </em> right now, I wouldn't let something so <em> silly </em> upset me! Plus, I can't let hysterics get in the way of my better judgement. I let that happen and I already snapped at my friends." "... Hatty, you're not being honest. I can tell," Fargus explained, "when you're upset, your eyes grey out."</p><p> </p><p>Flappy was right behind Hatty and pats his shoulder. "There's always time to grieve, but when times need to get our friends and family back, we need to fight through our emotions and stop at nothing to get them." More of the other crew mates agree, and would always help both Hatty and Luigi out whenever possible. "Besides, we can help find ways to get around the ship without being detected!" Kazu mentions his ninja ways, though Flappy gives a key to Hatty. "I think this belongs to you, to help in your <em> adventures</em>."</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, thank you, friend!" Gently taking the key, Hatty examined it for a bit before piecing together where it was from. He thought hard for a bit before looking to the back of it, seeing a carved initial of R.B. "... R... B..? Oh- <em> oh! </em> Rigel Baros! That's... that's <em> his </em> key! Oh my lord, Rigel... dear Rigel, he was always the most switch with his temper..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi tries to remember Rigel... <em> Rigel </em>... "W-was he th-the one who h-has that e-eye patch..?" He recalls that guy stopping Mario, Peach, Daisy and himself to get onto the S.S. Friendship when it was docked at the mushroom kingdom, as he tries to explain more of what Rigel looks like to Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, he is... he lost his eye <em> many </em> ages before ever joining the ship. I remember him being rather bitter from the get-go. He's older, but came to us due to being so heavily done in by poverty and caring for his younger brother. They had essentially <em> nothing </em> when they came to us. Here, they found safety and security... didn't stop Rigel from being a stick in the mud while his brother's as spirited as could be! Rigel... I believe he's 64, Nigel turned 52 before the ship was seized." "And <em> like </em> his age, he's quite the temperamental old bastard." "<em>Chef!</em>" "Well, it's true!"</p><p> </p><p>"Gee, h-he didn't look <em> th-that </em> old..." Luigi mentioned as he rubs his nose with his finger, since age doesn't represent their looks in some cases, though most others that <em> do</em>. "I-I wonder why H-he's so bitter towards e-everone..." It always begs the question, <em> why </em> was Rigel so bitter and angry towards everyone? Though, no one had the answer to that, at least, not at first - since Rigel never said anything to why he's so temperamental to everyone around him.</p><p> </p><p>"If I only <em> knew </em> ! It isn't <em> because </em> he's older. He's a <em> very </em> healthy and vibrantly physical man for someone whose past would be assumed to be his prime. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Nigel said that things in their past weren't <em> easy </em> , but never went into detail. What he said was that they were struggling constantly and barely made enough to get food. They didn't have a mother or a father by the time Rigel was sixteen and Nigel was four, so he had to play the brother-father. I could see that making someone unhappy, but not so <em> awfully </em> disgruntled." Hatty always wondered and <em> tried </em> to offer an ear to listen to anything that pained Rigel... but, alas, the man was silent in his sorrow.</p><p> </p><p>After a while, the crew mates, the toads as well as Luigi and Hatty had gotten their rest after their fill, since their food intake made pretty much most of them fell asleep from eating too much, <em> especially </em> Luigi. Of course, the green stache's snoring didn't help others to sleep, luckily all of them had their good rest... Even though everyone had woken up, Luigi was still fast asleep near the corner of the loading docks; so Hatty had-to come over to try to wake the sleepy head up.</p><p> </p><p>Being woken up to not only the snoring, but also a rocking of the ship hitting choppier waters, Hatty rose with a stifled groan. Ugh, he felt... somehow <em> less </em> rested. His dreams were <em> so </em> odd. He felt as though he was... <em> trapped </em> in that dream. Not in a painting, but as though he was drowning. Stuck beneath a thick sheet of glass, he banged as his chest burned and body sank, only to see twisted faces of malice and <em> hatred </em> gleaming down at him with bared teeth. Coming to with a cold sweat from the awful nightmare, he turned to Luigi and tried to nudge him awake. "... Mr. Luigi? Mr. Luigi? Luigi, wake up! Come on!"</p><p> </p><p>Boy, The green plumber must have been in a food coma, knowing how much he ate earlier, but even when he's sleeping, he also suffered a nightmare - recalling the events from the past with King Boo as well as the current ones, fearing the worst outcome with himself of being trapped within a portrait, or <em> worse </em> ... Having his own twin brother turn against him with King Boo behind him before he attacks the green plumber. While this nightmare is happening, Boocille can <em> see </em> and <em> feel </em> what Luigi is going through in his nightmare.</p><p>Though once everything went dark in his mind and he heard Hatty's voice, he snapped awake and bolted right up, he sighs heavily as he takes off his hat and wipes the sweat off of his forehead. "<em>I-I'm sorry, Hatty... D-did I keep you awake..?</em>" He says to Hatty before putting his hat back on his head.</p><p> </p><p>Poor Boocille was still resting by the time Luigi got up... she ended up absorbing a bit of that fear and pain, shielding Luigi in the process while also suffering a nightmare herself. Hatty dodged to avoid being knocked out by the up-shooting plumber. "I-it's alright..! Are you okay? You looked like you were having terrible terror fits..."</p><p> </p><p>"H-heh, yeah... I-I was." Luigi replied, rubbing one of his eyes to help wake up better. With a big yawn, he gets up and stretches from laying down on the hard metal, then sneezes from the dust and mold buildup that's caked on all over. "It felt like Boocille had a nightmare as well..." The green plumber mentions as he puts his hand on his chest, hoping she'll be okay.</p><p> </p><p>"Goodness... I'm glad you're up, and I hope she'll be okay in there. Do you think she can hear us?" Actually, she could. She could hear <em> everything </em> , considering her current state, she couldn't <em> respond </em> to much or remember much of what would be told to her. Otherwise, she can hear from her respite.</p><p> </p><p>As he gets up, Luigi mentions the nightmare that he recalls, since it was pretty vivid in his mind, and worries about if his own twin would turn against him as well as side with King Boo and Maya. Just <em> thinking </em> about it made him shiver in fear, though he shakes his head. "<em>L-let's continue on, t-to get to R-Rigel's closet...</em>" He cites, as the green stache doesn't want to hold back in trying to rescue more of the crew as well as his family.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly coming up onto his feet, Hatty stumbled a bit with a painful twinge. That was weird... he wasn't hurt in his shoulder. Why did <em> that </em> hurt? "Ack-- g-give me a moment! I think I need to stretch out a bit. Get ready without me, I'll be ready in a bit." Stretching and hearing a clicking, suppose he just slept wrong. But... that heavy feeling didn't leave after sleeping. Did he eat too much before going to sleep? That made people sluggish, but this wasn't the usual drowsiness someone felt after engorging and crashing.</p><p> </p><p>Rather, his fingers felt like he just played 2 hours straight on a piano. His feet dragged like they were tied to anchors and shoulders sunk as though a horse collar was thrown onto them. But this <em> paled </em> to the weight in his <em> heart </em> ... the fatigue towards adventure, the lacking want to continue on, the <em> disdain </em> of even being on his feet. .oO( <em> Why am I even playing hero? I'm no hero... I'm the reason anyone's even been turned into ghosts... Why should I keep fighting like this? I'm just trying to cast away blame. What's the point of fighting? What's the point of... anything I'm doing? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty was staying put, Luigi noticed how the captain was feeling deep down as he came back and grabbed his hand. "<em>I-I can t-tell that y-you're feeling th-the weight of g-guilt from wh-what you've done...</em>" With a sad expression looking up to Hatty's heterochromial eyes with his own blue ones, "<em>B-but, think of th-the ones you've saved so far...</em>" Luigi calmly says to the captain as he looks over to the other crew mates, the toads as well as Gadd happily working in his lab. "<em>B-besides, without you, I-I would have been c-captured already...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the small group that has already been saved as well as the little spectral pup that yipped at his heels, Hatty smiled and knelt down, petting the small pup. "... I suppose you're right. I shouldn't be such a downer about things. And this <em> is </em> the best way to show my sincerest apology: changed behavior and undoing what's been done."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods, as he turns and gently pulls Hatty along with. "Come on, let's-a go!" Hoping with the slightly better mood, it'll help cheer the captain up as well as he heads toward the stairs to continue on their adventure. The other crew mates and the toads cheer the two on as they pass on to the stairs, which help the two feel more upbeat and more encouraged to keep going.</p><p> </p><p>With the vacuum over his shoulders and determined friend at his side, seeing the mates and Toads that were freed... it <em> did </em> bring a smile of delicate joy to Hatty's face. Made him feel just a <em> touch </em> happier, a bit better, but the issues in his mind were going to be a bit more than what some soft words would remedy. Out in the dreary halls again, there was definitely a chill in the air as they approached the closet door. The mold rotted and bleach stained door looked to be barely holding onto its hinges...</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi and Hatty reach the closet door, spectral gates come down on all sides of the hallways, making Luigi jump from the sudden sound. "<b><em>AAAIIIEEEEE!!</em></b>" Frightened, the green plumber hides behind Hatty, afraid of who would come after them this time. Through the spectral gates, the two could hear a <em> charge </em> building up and come coming after the two. " <em> O-oh no! </em>" Luigi sees the ghost of Jack Runningback coming after the two.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty spotted the specter firstly who was <em> rushing </em> towards them. In a gasped panic, he grabbed Luigi and pulled him aside, both narrowly avoiding having their lights knocked out. "<em>Go, go go, get to higher ground- climb if you have to!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Thanks to Hatty, he hugged the walls of the hallways just in time before Jack Running back was able to hit them as the ghost went on by, but since the ghost missed, he goes into the walls and gets them to worry of where he's going to appear again. "<em>I-I have a feeling... H-he's going to a-appear... Wh-where we least e-expect it...</em>" Luigi gulps as he tries to think of <em> something </em> , though Hatty mentions <em> climbing </em> had given the idea of plungering the ceiling and waits for the right moment.</p><p> </p><p>Clinging onto Luigi since his own device had no such attachment, Hatty gave the plumber a nod. "<em>Hitch that part up high and pull us up. It's a good way to avoid coming across anything else. The janitor's closet moves towards a hallway due left, but it's a good idea to get higher up and out of sight.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-it's kind of h-hard to get there, b-because...</em>" Luigi points to the spectral gates that surrounded the two, and the space is <em> quite </em> small between the gates. Once the green stache hears the charge coming on, he sticks the plunger to the ceiling, sucks up the knot and lifts himself up high enough as well as bringing Hatty with him so that Jack Runningback just barely misses both of them for a moment. "YIKES!!"</p><p> </p><p>Being hoisted up into the ceiling, Hatty crawled in with the plumber as the two avoided getting knocked into by Jack Runningback. "<em>Good grief! What's that bugger's problem? He's running back and forth like a dog going frantic for the mailman.</em>" His head poked out slightly to see that ghost flying around, sinking back before he could be caught. " <em> How are we going to get him..? </em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Luigi tries to think as he lowers himself back down to the floor after seeing the ghost disappearing in the wall again. "P-probably using the b-burst to knock th-the helmet off a-and th-then stun him?" The Italian plumber points to Hatty's poltergust on his underside, reminding the captain of that feature just as Jack Runningback comes back out, this time from the wall closest to the two heroes - which prompted one of them to go back to the ceiling almost instantly.</p><p> </p><p>"... I sure hope this works." Gripping the nozzle pointed down at the charging menace... when he was about to cross their threshold, Hatty gave his poltergust a <em> full </em> power pump down on the belligerently running muscle head. It knocked the fiend's helmet off- allowing them the moment to stun him- but <em> also </em> succeeded in making that spirit a <em> bit </em> tipped... uh-oh.</p><p> </p><p>With Jack Runningback angry, the spirit charges at the captain. Luigi comes back down from the ceiling and quickly flashes the strobulb to stun the ghost while hiding behind the captain. "<em>N-not this time..!</em>" The green plumber felt scared of being run over by the buff ghost, since he's <em> way </em> smaller than most of the crew mates and any ghost like <em> that </em> can knock him out cold easily.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, that flash was enough to freeze the fiendish linebacker as Hatty prepared the suction, catching the spirit by the tail. With a groan and ensuing struggle, he whipped the bastard over, flipping him like a patty while slamming him into the dirt. "<em>Give up already, darn you!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Jack Runningback was struggling to get free from Hatty's grasp from his poltergust 5000, but with the slam on the moldy and cracked floor, it didn't take long for the spirit to get sucked up into Hatty's vacuum chamber. Luigi felt better after Jack Runningback got captured and sighs heavily. "G-good job~" The Italian plumber smiles and gives a thumbs up to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"Goodness, that's something I can <em> never </em> get used to! Such an unusual feeling, and it feels... so bully-like to slam my friends into the dirt, irrespective if they're a ghost now or not... it's not a <em> wonderful </em> feeling, either." That empathetic nature in him was starting to haunt him quite a bit, knowing that each slam was one he might be doing to a friend, <em> or </em> foe. He didn't like being so mean.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi sighs heavily, "I-I know how it feels, b-but if th-they're attacking us... W-we need to d-defend ourselves..." He lets Hatty know as the spectral gates lift up to free the two heroes to continue on their way. After they've been freed from the small confinement, Luigi then gets to the closet door and unlocks it with the key that Hatty dropped while fighting Jack Runningback. Unlike last time, the key doesn't vanish and takes the key back out of the hole as he cautiously opens the door to peek in and look around with his flashlight. "<em>H-hello..?</em>" Luigi quietly mutters out with his teeth chattering a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"... this feels so off..." Hatty murmured out as he walked alongside the green clad plumber. Looking about, the cobwebs in this room were so thick that you could knit a wig out of them. "I would hate to meet the spider that made <em> that </em> ..." Shining his light around, he couldn't help but feel like there were eyes on him... rather, an <em> eye</em>. Something was watching then, lying in wait... but knew better than to attack them when they were so <em> fresh faced</em>. Maybe... it was a better idea to give them a little bit of a pre-show work out before the main event~</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi walks inside and tries to avoid the thick cobwebs, something <em> sharp </em> shines briefly as the green plumber breezes his flashlight through and continues on, but didn't realize that it started to move a bit and makes a rattling sound. "<em>EEP! Wh-what was th-that?!</em>" That noise spooks Luigi and quickly turns back to the source of the noise, but the long spear had stopped moving once the light shone on it.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty jumped and felt his heart jump into his throat upon hearing something... metallic, in nature, moving in the darkness. "... I-I'd recognize that anywhere. Th-that's Brianne! S-surely, a robot couldn't possibly become <em> possessed </em> , could it? T-there's no possible--" Hatty ended up eating his words promptly, the shine of a blade flying through the air and lopped against his cheek. The deep gash began to bleed immediately, causing him to clutch it and look completely shocked! "<em>... B-Brianne...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi yelps and barely ducks from the blade flown just above him, almost splitting his hat in two of how close it was and heard that <em> tear </em> from his hat while holding it on his head. Looking back to Hatty, he notices that the captain got hurt on his cheek. "Are y-you okay..?" Luigi gulps, as he looks back around in hopes to spot Brianne in the midst of Rigel's closet with a loud gulp in his throat, since more <em> metallic </em> sounds are rattling around.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-I'm fine, but you won't be..!</em>" Hatty yelped out, pulling Luigi away from where a metal janitor's cart was slung towards them. Jesus, that missed them by roughly a hair! It was <em> solid </em> metal and it could've knocked someone's head off! "<em>Good lord, we can't stay still too long, we'll get hit!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EEP!</em>" After Hatty pulls Luigi away from danger, Brianne shows himself at the end of the closet as the spectral gates come down at the door to lock the two in. "<em>Well well, looks like the actual captain and his companion wants to join the party~ Heh heh~</em>" Brianne laughs, as Luigi reminds the ghosts back in his past, one of the actual poltergeist ghosts that can manipulate objects without touching them, making the plumber hide behind Hatty and shivering in fear. "<em>Well that's too bad~ Luckily you've fallen for the TRAP!!</em>" Brianne stays back as more metallic objects come out from all around, making Luigi look around to see the objects ready to <em> strike </em> . "<em>Uuhhh Oohhh...</em>"</p><p>The blades and spears as well as a couple crates come flying at the two, "<b><em>AAAIIIEEEE!!</em></b>" Luigi yelps out, making the adrenaline spike in both of them and tries to weave and dodge the weapons. Though, they weren't able to avoid every single one of them as a couple scrape their skins as well as their clothing. Luigi felt another gash split open, this time on his arm as he clenched it while in pain.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the items flying towards him, Hatty <em> thought </em> that using the poltergust was a good idea, but the heavier objects were immune and barely wobbled from their path. He was bought only a <em> moment </em> to avoid a blade to the gut, having to weave around to avoid taking a knife to the family gems. Whimpering out in terror, he pulled Luigi down and rushed him around a weaving corner... the janitor's closet was spacious enough to find a place to duck out and figure out a plan. But this time, there wasn't much time to spare. They were locked in a small space with this angered robot with a brain possessed by a horrible specter.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Monkey lumps! How are we going to get a specter out of a cyborg? They're bringing knives to a vacuum battle!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While hissing in pain with the wound on his arm, he looks up to Hatty after being dragged to a safe spot... For now. "<em>I-I don't know...</em>" Luigi had-to think of something and <em> quickly </em> before another barrage of weapons and items came hurling towards them as they kept their flashlights off in order to not attract Brianne to their hiding spots.</p><p>"<em>Where did you go? I was having so much fun!</em>" Brianne cackles a bit as he floats around to try to find Hatty and Luigi, though with the green plumber trying to keep quiet and having his mouth covered, his shivering is making slight noise to attract <em> some </em> kind of attention to their location.</p><p> </p><p>Knowing that hiding was only going to prolong the inevitable, Hatty's mind raced at the implications of this situation: they were <em> trapped </em> . In a dangerous, metal and blade filled, hazardous little hovel that could become their tomb at any given moment! His stomach then sank, realizing that they had to do <em> one </em> thing. There was one crucial flaw about Brianne, one that the entire crew was well aware of. The only thing standing between the cyborg and becoming an inert puppet of metal and screws was less than an inch of glass. It was tough, sure... but breaking it and exposing the brain could cause systems to go <em> critical</em>. The robot had no off switch. It simply <em> ran </em>.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... there's... there's one option here. We break the container on his head. If it's broken, he'll go into a critical system failure. I don't know how to get a ghost out of a metal shell. He has no eyes, there's no way to stun a ghost in a shield, for sure. This may be our only option before we get killed.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi whimpers, as he thinks of an idea to break the glass head. "<em>Wh-what if... W-we get one o-of the w-weapons r-return t-to s-sender..?</em>" He tries to shake the fear out of him as he pokes his head out from his hiding spot, seeing Brianne trying to look for him and Hatty, though seeing the weapons and items circling around the ghost and wonders <em> how </em> to get one of the weapons to strike the glass head.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>We need something big, strong and heavy enough to break through the glass. It's tempered, so it's not easy to break through.</em>" While it was a possibility, this needed timing, coordination and precision in order to break through that head case. "<em>... there might be something in here that fits the criteria, but we need to evade that big bully so we don't get hurt ourselves.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi agrees with Hatty as he goes back down into hiding, not realizing that slight bit of his hat is poking out from his hiding spot - even though he's much shorter than Hatty is. "<em>Come out, wherever you are!</em>" Brianne keeps looking around to try to spot Hatty and Luigi, then notices bits of green and white hiding behind the boxes and crates. " <em> There you are! </em>" After saying those words, Luigi and Hatty realize that they've been spotted as the weapons and items surrounding the ghost get hurled towards the two, though the crates did help block some of the weapons, but not others since they went through the thin cardboard boxes.</p><p>After hearing this, the green plumber quickly rolls out of the way from most of the weapons and hoping to not get hit from any of them, which made him out in the open from the hiding spot. "<em>Ohh-ohh no...</em>" With lightning quick reaction, Brianne throws more of the weapons to Luigi as he gets up and runs as fast as he could all around. "<b><em>WWWAAAAAHHHHH!!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Being less athletic as his green clad counterpart, Hatty dropped forward and the two were forced to scurry in opposite directions. Feeling weapons on his heels, he didn't dare turn around as he felt like any moment that something <em> sharp </em> would end his life! Dropping down, sharp edged pieces of pipe and metal frame stabbed into the wall as he continued to duck, avoiding the sharp and jagged ends of the flying weaponry. His friend being chased by psychically fueled weapons didn't help the cause much either! Looking frantically around, Hatty managed to find something that seemed enough to at least get a few <em> cracks </em> in.</p><p> </p><p>A solid amount of thick wood, utilized for outer hull repair, lay in rather good condition against the floor. Perhaps if he sucked it up into the nozzle enough to hold it, then shot it with the poltergust... <em> maybe </em> they had a chance of getting out of this with their heads still on their shoulders! Turning on the vacuum, he knew he had <em> no </em> other option, lest himself and Luigi end up as yesterday's news!</p><p> </p><p>Luckily that Luigi was the distraction while Hatty was getting ready to attack. While the Italian plumber kept trying to run away and Hatty had geared up to launch the thick wood at Brianne, one of the sharp weapons had struck Luigi on his leg, making him trip and fall flat on his belly.</p><p>With pain in his leg that got slashed <em> badly </em> from the weapon and bleeding, Luigi struggles to get up from the floor, not realizing Brianne was right in front of him and looks up to see the robotic ghost as his heart sinks and has the fear expression written on his face. "<em>It's time to end this!!</em>" The robotic ghost raises up a sharp spear aimed at Luigi's head, but just in the nick of time and the green plumber covers his head to defend himself, Hatty launches the thick wood at Brianne and crashes into his glass head, making a large crack in it and made the robotic parts malfunction as well as all the weapons and items fall to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Launching the large plank of wood at Brianne, it caused a system error, but not a serious one <em> just </em> yet. With fluid beginning to leak and the security compromised, it was enough to make the other stop the attack. "Gotcha!" Hatty cried out, but now, <em> he </em> was at the forefront of the robot's rage. Gulping thickly, Hatty saw the weapons raise up again and prompted the captain to hit the deck. Now, he had an angry <em> malfunctioning </em> robot, cursing him and sputtering as fluid leaked. Shoot, needed another hit of that wood, but Hatty was being corralled <em> away </em> from the pile!</p><p> </p><p>While Brianne was focusing on Hatty, Luigi struggled to get up from the floor as his leg was in bad shape from having a part of it sliced open like a melon. Taking his nozzle out, he crawls over to the thick wood on the floor and sucks the end of it up to hold onto it. As he aimed at Brianne, the green plumber was able to get up with one of his legs that wasn't damaged and launched the thick wood at the robotic ghost; which was a direct hit to the glass head and had made much bigger cracks on the glass.</p><p> </p><p>With that, the glass was just a small nudge away from being shattered. "<b><em>CRITICAL ERROR. SYNTAX ERRORS IN CODE DETECTED, UNnnnnnable-- t-t-tooOOO TROUB-B-B-B-BLEShooooooo...ttt...</em></b>" The sounds of the robot's voice warping, going up and down in pitch as it spasmed, it wasn't done yet! Forcing one more attack on Hatty as the concussive force injured its ability to focus on anything else, it frantically send several blades in his direction as he tried to dodge.</p><p> </p><p>Stuck between the corner of the wall and shelves, a large blade went <em> directly </em> into the man's side. Cutting between fat and skin, it tore open into the pinkish sinew that now hung like fat back. "<b>AAAUUUUGH!!</b>" The blade cleaved through him, stabbing into the wall with a ribbon of fabric and skin. Just when it seemed like things were about to get worse, there was a small bit of hope!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ark-ark!</em>" That tiny puppy! The little soul of the ghostly puppy <em> rushed </em> through the walls, hopping up and knocked into Brianne's head once more. <em> This </em> was the straw that broke the camel's back, causing cranial fluid to spray free as the movements ceased and the robot fell forward with a loud thud.</p><p> </p><p>Once Brianne had fallen to the floor and had his robotic features had stopped working after the glass had been shattered, the actual ghost of Brianne comes out from it and is enraged. "<em>HOW DARE YOU BREAK MY ROBOTIC BODY!! NOW YOU'LL BE PUNISHED!!</em>" Brianne charges at Luigi, though the green plumber was prepared this time and flashes the strobulb, the ghost not realizing that he was vulnerable to flashing light. "<em>ACK!!</em>" With the ghost stunned, Luigi switches to the vacuum nozzle and grabs hold onto the tail. It didn't take long for the ghost to get captured into the poltergust chamber, though the pain in his leg makes it a little tougher to catch. "G-gotcha!"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty smiled shakily at Luigi, giving him a thumbs up before collapsing onto his knees. Groaning, the thick blood that leaked from his veins dribbled down onto his suit and stained his gloved hand. The little puppy yelped and rushed over to Hatty, whimpering and scared. With a shaky grin, he lightly pet the undead pup. "<em>I-I'll be okay... nngh... w-we... we have to get to the doctors.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi's leg just as bad and losing blood himself, he doesn't look back at the gash on his leg and tries not to look at Hatty's wound as he pants heavily.</p><p>Upon hearing the captain's plea to get to Dorchester and Kev, the Italian plumber remembers he had something that'll help get them back to the lab as he takes out a personal special television that connects to the pixelator and places to down to the floor as it grows to their size. Turning the knob, it turns the pixelator on and transports both of them to the lab. At the lab, both Luigi and Hatty transfer through the pixelator camera as the few crew mates notice their injuries and help them get to the two docs.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the two suddenly arrive, the doctors saw their state and <em> jumped </em> onto the task of fixing the two before their wounds worsened. Pulling over gurneys, they loaded the two on and prepared them for emergency repairs. Dorchester was on top of Luigi since <em> his </em> forte was to stop bleeding. "Mr. Luigi, I'm going to put a tourniquet on your leg. It'll be very tight and uncomfortable, but it'll stop your bleeding so I can take a look and fix you, alright?"</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was moaning out in pain with sharp gasps. Each breath was a nightmare as the knife was between the fat and muscle. "<em>Oh, God..! Oh, God it hurts!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>O-okay...</em>" Luigi whimpers as he lays flat on the gurney and tries to pull up his overall legging to help Dorchester in showing the extent of the wound. Trying to fight through the pain, he winces when he hears Hatty in much worse condition.</p><p>After the tourniquet was put on, he felt the tightness on his leg, but the bleeding did stop for now. "<em>I-it's so t-tight...</em>" Luigi whines, as he tries to stay tough, but it's rather difficult to do so and worries that he wouldn't be able to walk at least to help save his family and the crew.</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay, you're in good hands." There was no time to <em> take </em> Luigi's outfit off to check- Dorchester had to cut the leg off below the tourniquet in order to examine the wound better. Pulling away the blue dressings, he could <em> see </em> major veins having been nicked. He knew that Luigi needed stitches and reconstruction, lest he bleed out. It was no surprise that the robot wasn't one to drop any hearts, since it was a cold, hard shell where a weak ghost hid within. A crevice in which to cower.</p><p> </p><p>Bringing up several needles, he focused on pricking at the apex beneath the glutes of the sciatic nerve heavily with lidocaine to deaden the area. "I don't have any anesthetic, so I'll numb your leg to the best of my ability and get you sutured up." On the opposite end, Hatty was being <em> drilled </em> with needles, fearfully whimpering out as he could still feel that twinging pain. "<em>AUUUGH!! OW, GOD IN HEAVEN!</em>" His voice broke, showing the unfortunate resistance to the painkiller. The Hattingtons had an unfortunate mutation: resistance to locals.</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi felt every prick with the surgical needle go through his leg, he clutches the gurney as hard as he could in order to divert the pain to somewhere else, but it wasn't easy to do so. "<em>Owie! It h-hurts s-so much..!</em>" The green stache cries out, as he puts his torn hat over his face to cover his expression of anguish and sadness.</p><p> </p><p>"I know, it doesn't feel nice, but the medicine should be taking effect soon. You'll be totally numb from the hip down." That would be better versus poor Hatty. He was fully aware and could feel everything. Forced to work with a patient that could feel, Kev had to give Hatty something to bite on. They had to do this medieval style, they <em> had </em> to do this or he would die a <em> very </em> slow death.</p><p> </p><p>Biting into a small musket bullet from the ring of a necklace, the poor captain cried in anguish, feeling the blade pulled free with pressure against the shape of the wound and pressing down against the major veins that fed the massive hole in his side. He could feel his stomach churning and wanting to vomit, but he couldn't since his body stunted the gagging reflex.</p><p> </p><p>It took a bit, but the pain and feeling from his hips down, went numb; but it meant that Luigi couldn't move his legs while he's being patched up on his leg. With a sigh of relief of not feeling any pain, he puts his hat back on his head with a better expression on his face... Though the numbness had the side-effect of having everything around him had double-vision and felt a little loopy... Whoops. At least Luigi is still awake for the emergency surgery. "<em>N-no more pain...</em>" His tongue lulled out slightly while his cheeks flush pinkish, as well as his big nose.</p><p> </p><p>Working steadily, Dorchester firstly worked on cleansing the wound with gauze and isotopic water in order to get a clean workspace. Examining the wound, he saw a vein was indeed cut. This would require surgical glue and stitch-work. With a surgeon's hand, he began to sew all the sinew back together again, whereas the rest had to heal. "You're lucky a major artery wasn't struck or you may not have made it to the gurney, friend." All the while, Hatty was shaking in a pool of freezing sweat, staring at the wall as his wound was cleansed as Dorchester apologized. Soon, the shock was too much for his mind, and the poor captain fainted. He couldn't feel the pain now, luckily, but his vitals needed constant monitoring.</p><p> </p><p>While Dorcheser was working on his leg, Luigi was mentally talking to Boocille while in the loopy state; though the green plumber smirks slightly as closes his eyes. .oO( <em> I-it feels nice... </em> ) His heart beat felt slow and steady, though he forgot that he's still wearing his poltergust G-00 on his back. But then again, getting patched up was more important than taking it off. .oO( <em> H-how are y-you f-feeling, Boocille..? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Within his body, the little spirit spoke out with her delicate, friendly tone. .oO( <em> I... I'm okay, I'm coming back around. I came to, feeling that something was off. What happened? </em> ) The poor dear was a bit shaken and dazed, staring about within Luigi's soul. That fluttery, floral feeling was strong in his liver, where the soul was gently tucked away.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt the warming feeling in his liver while taking a deep breath. .oO( <em> J-just... Had an injury... B-but I'll be okay... </em> ) He thought to her, as his soul hugging her gently to help keep each other happy while waiting for Dorchester to finish on his leg. .oO( <em> L-luckily, we made it back to g-get patched up... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> What's going on? I can't tell where you've been hurt. </em> ) The dear spirit was so worried, but her worries were better off rested as he was already being treated for his wounds. Luigi would be fine, and Hatty was being sewn back up. "<em>Ack, </em> good God, this skin is <em> ripped </em> from his body. Some's already dead... whatever did <em> this </em> to him is one <em> sick </em> individual."</p><p> </p><p>After their wounds had patched up completely and let Boocille know that he'll be okay while being treated from Dorchester, Luigi almost fell asleep from how painless he was from the numbness he felt throughout his system. Though, once it wears off, he'll feel the pain again, and probably not be able to walk on it much until he's able to find a gold or silver heart in their adventures... If they're lucky.</p><p>After the numbness wore off, the pain in his leg is felt as well as Boocille felt where the actual pain resides, but not as strong compared to earlier and slowly sits up after Dorchester was able to cover the treated wound up with bandages and slides his overall legging back down. "<em>Th-thanks, doc.</em>" With a slight sting, he stays put on the gurney until it's okay to go from the surgeon.</p><p> </p><p>"It's no trouble at all. Just stay here and rest, okay? I don't want you to move about too much and get hurt." As Dorchester went to see how Kev was doing with Hatty's procedure, Luigi could feel a little tickle in his soul as Boocille seemed to be working on something. .oO( <em> This might help you heal a bit quicker from your procedure. </em> ) Something... glowed from his chest and popped out. A tiny, ghostly heart! .oO( <em> I can't make many of these at a time, but I have enough energy to make one without depleting myself. It's enough so you can heal and move about again. The captain, sadly, I don't have enough energy to make him one... I just hope he's okay. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi could use this and move about, Hatty? He was in sorrier shape. Skin was cut from his body and grafted taut due to <em> extensive </em> tissue damage. Lord, fat was just falling out from the wound left in him. "Ack... God. Not a pretty sight, but it's looking better. He's lucky no vessels were hit, but nerves were cut pretty badly, no wonder why he was in shaking pain."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he sees Dorchester help Hatty, though as he's alone with Boocille, he puts his hand on his chest after he feels something within and leans back a bit while holding himself up with his arm. After removing his hand from his chest, the tiny heart is in his hand. .oO( <em> Boocille... Y-you didn't n-need to... </em> ) Though, he was happy to take the generous offer and used it on himself to heal his wounds, especially the one on his leg. .oO( <em> Th-thank you... Y-you're so sweet... </em> ) He sighs heavily as the pain in his leg has almost completely vanished! Luigi gets off from the gurney and tries to put weight on his leg to see how well he can handle it, and there were no problems at all, except for the stitches still there as well as the bandages.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I healed the most major parts with it, since I have to concentrate where I feel the pain towards the heart. Think of it as targeted treatment. It's the least I could do apart from keeping you safe when I can. I'm... I'm not a hero like you, but sometimes, that hero needs their own savior. Especially since I want to overthrow my father and stop his reign of terror and pain... especially... for that scary dark lady. </em> ) Scary dark lady-- <em> oh!</em> Oh... <em> death </em> herself.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> What she said... about what those two are doing. King Boo and Lord Maya... I've seen what their trifling has done to people. It's terrible... it's sad, it's scary. People aren't dying, people aren't being born. The sick stay sick, people die before they're even born. It's so wrong... but I want to help put an end to it! I'd rather fade into forever before I just sit idly by and let more awful things happen, to anyone, from those two! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I-it's so sad, of wh-what they're doing... </em> ) Luigi felt sad and angry from what King Boo and Lord Maya are doing, and is affecting much more than just the crew and his family, which felt more determined to stop the two from doing any more damage to the world as he grips the vacuum nozzle. .oO( <em> N-no matter what, w-we'll stop them... </em> ) With his determination, he walks over to Dorchester and Kev, just as they finished patching up Hatty. "How's Hatty..?" The Italian plumber asks the two docs, though Dorchester was surprised by how <em> fast </em> Luigi had recovered.</p><p> </p><p>The two doctors <em> whipped </em> around at seeing Luigi on his feet. "You're up?! God, and you're not bleeding? I'd say that that's nothing short of a medical miracle? How are you feeling? This... ordinarily, I'd say to get your butt back down and rest, but... you look <em> completely </em> healed aside from surface stitches. Just... try not to tear the stitching, that'll scar up. As for Hatty..." Turning back to the man who was out from the shock, he was pale and sweating but felt cold to the touch. "The pain must've sent him into shock. We've given him medicine to steady his vitals. He hasn't lost blood, but it's the psychological effect of feeling everything. Poor bugger has lidocaine resistance. He'll be fine once he's stitched up, but without a way to <em> magically </em> heal him, he might need therapy to regain some of the feeling down to his hip. He's lucky, that knife could've gone into his spleen. If that would've happened... well... doesn't exactly <em> take </em> a medical degree to know what happens to the cleaning organ of your blood."</p><p> </p><p>Bad news: Hatty's hurt. Good news: he's alive and will be okay... but maybe, there was a means of getting him healed faster? Maybe... perhaps a way of them to resist injury, or have more health? Anything to increase their vitality?</p><p> </p><p>After hearing how surprised from Dorchester and how bad Hatty had gone through, he thinks of an idea that can help in later use. "I'll be r-right back." Luigi heads to the lab where Gadd is. "H-hey, Gadd, I-I need some h-help." The green stache says as the professor turns around on his chair. "Sure, what do you need, Luigi?" Elven Gadd asks. "I-is it p-possible to m-make this..?" Luigi mentions about the hearts that drop to heal both himself and Hatty at random, and asks if there's a way to try to capture one of them at least to hold onto them in their poltergusts.</p><p>"Hmm..." Gadd thinks while tapping his chin, then gets the idea of how to get it stored in their vacuums. "Ahh yes, there's a way to do it, but I would need a special part to do this. I'm not sure if it's on this ship, but probably if you can get one, I'll be able to install it." Gadd mentions a special hatch somewhere on the ship, but not sure where it would be. Luigi sighs heavily, since he hoped that it would be installed now, but since the part is needed, the healing for Hatty would be delayed for the time being. "O-Okay, I'll try t-to find one." Luigi decides to go alone for now without Hatty so he can heal and uses the pixelator to go back to where the special television was last located - which was in Rigel's closet.</p><p> </p><p>While looking around the closet after picking up the special television, Luigi spots the broken robotic body of Brianne, thinking that could help with the parts to hold the healing hearts within the vacuum chamber. Picking some of the parts up and shoves them into his bottomless pockets, the closet door slams shut without any warning and makes Luigi jump in fear. "<b><em>AAIIEEE!!</em> </b> Ooh noo..." He gulps as he looks around, as he hears a loud cackle from within the closet somewhere. Feeling scared, he turns on the darklight to try to find something hiding. "I-I know y-you're here... Sh-show yourself..!"</p><p> </p><p>When all seemed quiet, there was a sudden noise. "<em>Ark-ark!</em>" Aww..! That poor little pup was left behind! Whimpering and crying out, his tail was tucked and large eyes stared up at Luigi, as if to say 'where's that other one?'. Sniffling and whining, the tiny paws skittered over and lightly scratched at his ankle, trying to get his attention.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi notices Anubis yipping out as he goes over to help him. "Oh, I'm sorry little one." He picks the dark ghost puppy up and holds him, though the cackling laugh echoes throughout the closet while holding the pup in his arms. "W-we need to g-get out of here..." Luigi tries not to touch <em> anything </em> in the closet as he gets to the door. With a small gulp, he shakingly reaches to the door knob and grabs it, turning it and opens the door slowly and quietly. A sigh of relief emptied his lungs as he left the closet and happy that he didn't disturb anything in the closet where a boo was residing. Of course, the boo was not impressed that it was ignored and left the closet, but has more information to share with King Boo and Lord Maya.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>As the boo had come into the secret chamber where the two were located, Maya was rubbing the side of King Boo's head for him to feel more <em> relaxed</em>. "<em>Heh heh, seems that you like that~</em>" Maya chuckles when he sees the boo come in and says the information about Anubis.</p><p> </p><p>King Boo's crown was set aside... seems the frustration of the lot getting out of the loop of things was starting to get to him, causing him to have <em> quite </em> the tantrum. Some found it scary. Maya? Surely, the man couldn't withhold the laughter. It was quite cute. Small rounds of pink were on his cheeks, accepting the pats as the smaller Boo appeared before the two. "<em>Lord Maya, King Boo! Anubis... he's been turned! They managed to take his spirit and regraft it!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hmm? Oh, that tiny puppy? Psh, I'd like to see them make use of that puny whelp. Without any of our powers, he's just that. A little puppy without any actual potential.</em>" "<em>... but what about the robot? I found bits of it around.</em>" "<em>There's another, stronger still. They may have the Toads and that robot, but what they don't have is their precious Polterpup or a means of protecting themselves. Without these lovely golden bones and that sort of help, their deaths are inevitable... especially seeing the </em> <b> <em>gore</em> </b> <em> the robot left behind. I can tell they were badly hurt..~ that buys us quite some time.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, and we'll figure out where they're hiding soon~</em>" Maya mentions as he continues to massage King Boo's head and side as he thinks of Polterpup hunting Luigi down without the plumber knowing... Though would need some clever timing for the pup to not be spotted while finding his scent.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>All the while, the little puppy whimpered and licked Luigi's cheek, shivering and nuzzling against him. The poor thing didn't know where Hatty went, and it seems that he may have imprinted on the captain that shared some of his food with him. Simple puppy minds.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi chuckles when Anubis licks his cheek as he finally gets to the stairs that lead to the loading docks, going down and rushes over to Hatty to gently drop the pup with him. "Th-there you go, l-little one; I-I need to get to Gadd." The green plumber pets Anubis happily before going to the professor to help install the new feature for his poltergust with the robotic parts.</p><p>After Gadd gets to work, Luigi waits patiently and goes back to Hatty and Anubis without his poltergust G-00 for now. "H-how's Hatty, Kev?" Luigi looks up to the doc with a concerned look on his face.</p><p> </p><p>While Gadd continued with the poltergust G-00, Kev was finishing up with repairing the horrible gash in Hatty's side. "Ah... he's more stable now, at least. A bit dehydrated, for sure, but he'll come back around from that. He's injured, and will need some down time. He's lost a bit of fat tissue, but the blade didn't strike anything. I'd wager a bet that if it came in at an angle, he wouldn't need a surgeon- he'd need a mortician. But, he'll live."</p><p> </p><p>The doctors tossed away bloodied gloves as Anubis nudged Hatty's face, licking his cheek and finally laid down next to him. He knew this human was hurting, <em> bad </em> . The poor man's snowy hair was matted and face was swollen, red from the cries of pain. It hurt, not as bad, but bad enough to know that a man that only wanted friendship and adventure <em> kept </em> getting the shorter end of the stick. With him being this hurt, there were <em> less </em> chances of missions going well! There had to be a way of bringing those <em> rare </em> hearts back to heal such awful wounds.</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi pets Anubis gently while hearing the news, Gadd comes around and brings the poltergust G-00 to Luigi. "I hope that this feature can help your friend, especially in emergencies like this." Luigi agrees as he gently takes the vacuum from the professor and puts it back on as he thanked Gadd. "Y-yes, I hope it would help, <em> especially </em> now." The plumber muttered, as he heads out of the loading docks alone once more. "I'll be back, h-hoping w-with what I-I need to h-help Hatty." He announces as he leaves the loading docks and back to the main part of the ship, while hoping and praying that he could find one of the hearts to help the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Dear sweet, and very brave Luigi seems to be going on his own. Poor man had to step out on his lonesome... but, perhaps he wasn't so alone? He had Boocille, who was up- he could <em> feel </em> her- and he would be okay. She had her, she could help in many ways. For now, this had to be swift in order to help the captain more steadily recover. Any drop in their strengthy numbers could prove detrimental.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt happy that Boocille is tagging along within, though his timidness doesn't help matters as he searches through the hallways to at least find an open cabin or room - but he comes across the mess hall again and walks inside, maybe one of the hearts is hidden in the room <em> somewhere </em>.</p><p>Though, the loud cackling laugh was echoing throughout the mess hall while looking around, this time, Luigi didn't have much choice to disturb everything around to find what he needed. With a loud gulp, he find some stacked chairs and a few boxes at the corner of the mess hall and looks around, not seeing much in a glance, but he had-to check the boxes. .oO( <em> I-I hope I can f-find wh-what I need... </em> ) <em> Scooting </em> his shoes to one of the boxes, he slowly opens it up, hoping no boo is hiding in it; but instead, loud crackles from small fireworks lit off and made Luigi jump back and land on his butt and bit away from the box. "<b><em>WWAAHHHH!!!</em></b>" The green plumber quickly crawls to his flashlight nozzle he dropped after being scared and stands up, having his body shiver in fear for a few seconds. "<em>Uhhhgggg...</em>" His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest after getting that jump scare as he pants a bit to try to calm down.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Rrgh! Those big meanies must be putting down traps just to frighten us with fireworks. That's so cheap! </em> ) Boocille squeaked out in annoyance, her little body shaken from that horribly loud pop. The mess hall was eerily quiet apart from the slight sounds of distant Boos and their mocking laughter. .oO( <em> Hmph. Maybe it's a better idea to kick a few boxes first, make sure there's nothing </em> <b> <em>bad</em> </b> <em> underneath... </em> ) Oh, good idea! While not <em> unleashing the beast </em>, a little nudge would be enough to snap off fireworks and any possible trap that might be beneath.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-yeah, g-good idea... </em> ) Luigi goes to a few other boxes to see if anything good is inside, though he gently nudges one of the boxes to see if any fireworks would go off, but this one didn't have any and decide to open it up cautiously. Once he opens it up, coins and gold bars pop out of it as well as a few bits of tools. That made the plumber's eyes widen in awe, and quickly switched to the vacuum nozzle and sucked the money up into his chamber. After sucking up the money, he keeps going to check other boxes around, but most of them have either trash or tools that flew out of them. Though, as he checked the last box, the boo comes out of hiding from the box and spooks Luigi, making him jump and shiver in fear as he shines the light at the boo.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Kra-hahaha!</em>" The classic Boo chuckling filled the room as the little demon floated about the room with its throaty cackling resonating. .oO( <em> I forget how annoying that laugh tends to be! Let's get him! </em> ) Boocille cheered out from within Luigi's being.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps and mentally agrees to Boocille as he sees the boo disappear and the spectral gates come down on all the doors, trapping Luigi within as a ghostly fog rolls in on the floor. Switching on the darklight, he tries to look around to try to spot the boo that's flying around the room somewhere while not staying in the spot he was at - since that can leave him vulnerable.</p><p>While moving around in the mess hall, Luigi notices the streak of the fog moving towards him at the corner of his eye and turns his darklight at the streak. The boo was trying to hide his face while it was getting more visible, until it got completely visible and made the boo dizzy. This made the boo vulnerable with its tongue sticking out as the green plumber quickly changed the darklight to the vacuum and sucked up its tongue. As he pulls hard, Luigi slams the boo down as hard as he could several times until the grip had let go and sent the boo flying away a bit.</p><p>Of course, the boo recovers and goes invisible again, though lots of money had dropped from Luigi slamming the boo on the floor and sucks up the money for a bit before switching back to his darklight again.</p><p> </p><p>The Boo attempted to hide back in the fog, realizing that he wasn't going to get far with <em> this </em> fight! Shrieking out, <em> several </em> other Boos dropped down from the ceiling, all of them chortling out. .oO( <em> Ack! That's not fair, he managed to fall for a team of ghosts! </em> ) They all flapped their tongues about, eager to take a <em> bite </em> out of the plumber.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi panics, "<em>WWAAAHHHHH!!</em>" He jumps and falls to his butt while feeling scared to see the boos surrounding him. " <em> O-ohhh nnoooo.... N-not aaagggiiiinnnn.... </em> " The green plumber doesn't know what to do and shivers in fear, grabbing his hat and holds his head down, <em> hoping and praying </em> that the boos don't hurt him... Though the boos had <em> other </em> ideas, as they all disappear into hiding... Or did they?</p><p>After the boos disappear, Luigi notices that they are gone and looks around after getting up and quivers. He remembers something similar from the first mansion and looks up- nothing was above him, but he can <em> feel </em> something behind him and turns around.</p><p>The several boos formed into a single big one - Boolossus! Luigi yelps and falls back down on his butt and tries to scoot back from the large boo in front of him. "<em>N-no no no... N-not th-this a-again...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Oh, by Heck! That's one big ugly Boo! But, we can handle it! Just be sure to put the spin on that thing! </em> ) The spin... the poltergust- ah! A stroke of genius! That puff-latent thing was all hot air, since Boos were mostly airy. In such a ballooned form, it was awkward and had more weight than what it knew what to do with! So long as it didn't break off, they could blast it with the gust and send it spinning enough to disorient it.</p><p> </p><p>With Boolossus' size, it knocks a lot of the chairs and tables as it chases Luigi around the mess hall- making a literal mess. Once hearing Boocille's idea, Luigi unleashed a burst attack from his poltergust to knock Boolossus away for a bit, then turned around to use the vacuum nozzle to keep it in its suction while it tried to get away from it. "<em>Y-you're n-ot getting away!</em>" With a high resistance, both Luigi and Boolossous are in equilibrium from the suction, though the green stache lets go of the large boo in a certain direction to a sharp spike of a flagpole to <em> pop </em> Boolossus into the smaller boos.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Wonderful! That'll show that big palooka! </em> ) Boocille cheered in Luigi's soul, seeing the smaller Boos drift about, dispersed and confused. .oO( <em> Now get those big, ugly bullies and show 'em what for! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the boos all confused and dizzy and with Boocille's cheering within his soul; Luigi goes after them, a couple at a time by grabbing onto their tongues with the vacuum and slams them onto the floor to weaken them enough to suck them up into the chamber. Though, after the couple had gotten sucked into the chamber, the rest of the boos come together again to form Boolossus once more, but a slightly weaker state and chases the green plumber once more with a loud cackling laugh. "<em>Ohh nnooo!!</em>" Luigi notices Boolossus coming after him again and tries to get away from the boo bouncing on the floor and destroying more of the mess hall.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Aw, nuts! Quick, try to pop him again! We're in a mess hall, so there should be plenty of sharp things- like knives and forks! </em> ) Another pop should do the trick, and it should lead to a clean house without any of these cackling, aggravating specters.</p><p> </p><p>With another burst from his poltergust, Boolossus gets knocked back a bit after it came too close for Luigi's comfort, as the plumber turns around to try to capture the large boo. Though like last time, the large boo gets stuck in the vacuum suction while trying to fly away - but this makes Luigi able to move around slowly to any direction with Boolossus in its grasp. Letting go, it launches the large boo at the different pointy object, which popped the large boo into smaller ones again.</p><p>Seeing the smaller boos scattered again, Luigi goes after a couple more and does the same attack to weaken and suck them up into the chamber, but he's still too slow to capture anymore as the others group up once more and form the large boo again. "<em>EEP!</em>" Luigi squeaks, though Boolossus is a little smaller, but it's getting <em> faster </em> and more agile to the cowardly plumber that keeps running away. "<em>N-no no no no no!!</em>" Luigi keeps running until he trips over one of the chairs and falls flat on his face, feeling a little dizzy; just as Boolossus was able to catch up and be right behind the plumber.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille could <em> feel </em> Luigi bouncing on the ground, her own senses jostled as she managed to get a view of what was going on... everything went <em> dark</em>, and slimy! <em> Uh-oh! </em> That big, bloated bastard was trying to swallow Luigi whole! .oO( <em> EEK!! No, we're not on the menu, you bloated specter!! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt Boolossus' tongue wrap around him and yanked him inside its mouth. "<em>MMFFFFHHH!!</em>" While struggling to get free - everything went dark and felt like he gotten eaten <em> whole </em> from the huge boo! Oh dear... While inside, Luigi turns on the light and looks around - though the light doesn't help much at all. The wet sliminess felt all around, though the light doesn't show much other than being a little claustrophobic in the tiny area and tries to move, but there's not much room inside. .oO( <em> I-I can't move m-much... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Realizing just how <em> dire </em> this was, Boocille's cheeks puffed out as she realized that she <em> needed </em> to step up and put an end to this. .oO( <em> I'm not going to let you become ghost chow! </em> ) Focusing hard, she forced her energy out and made Luigi- poltergust and all- turn see-through. .oO( <em> I can give you this power, but you need to focus! Envision yourself out of this Boo, and you'll drift out without any effort, hurry! I can't do this for long! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Luigi mentally nods as he closes his eyes to focus the energy she's giving out into his body to help turn incorporeal and help slip out of Boolossus' <em> gut</em>. Once achieving this goal, the plumber slipped out of the bowels of the large boo and onto the floor below, just as Boolossus was close to the wall to pass through from the mess hall. "OOF!" While <em> invisible</em>, Boolossus realizes that Luigi had escaped and turned around to try to find him, but it couldn't see the plumber whatsoever as Luigi quickly gets up and runs away to hide.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Quick, find a place to hide! I can't keep this up for long! </em> ) Boocille warned, knowing full well that she couldn't deplete her energy <em> just </em> yet and risk them being trapped in the belly of the Boo once <em> again</em>.</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi was able to find a spot to hide, he stops the cloaking ability and hides behind a sturdy column that holds the ceiling up. His quivering in fear in hopes for Boolossus to not find him doesn't help the matter, though the large boo floats around to spot the plumber that ran away. .oO( <em> I-I hope it d-doesn't s-spot me... </em> ) He thought to himself while he whimpers quietly and holds his vacuum nozzle in his hands, ready to pounce when Boolossus gets close.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Where did he go?! Ooh, you can't get away forever, you big chicken!!</em>" The massive Boo jeered out with a snarled look. Boocille released the invisibility ability, as well as the phasing, allowing her to recover herself more quickly without depleting herself swiftly and risking being without power again. .oO( <em> Argh, how can we distract him? He's much too close for a sneak attack... is there anything around that you see that we can use to distract him? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>As the green plumber feels the abilities unlock within, Luigi goes invisible for a brief moment as Boolossus comes around the corner of the column. Though, with Boocille's idea and still invisible, Luigi aims his invisible plunger and launches it far away from him. The plunger knocks a few chairs on the other side of the mess hall as it goes visible, hoping it'll deter the massive boo away from where he's really at. .oO( <em> I-I hope th-that'll d-distract it... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>The tumbling chairs caused the bloated Boolossus to spin about and <em> fly </em> over, knocking into them and throwing furniture around. "<em>Ah-ha! I knew you were over here, you dirty double crosser!</em>" .oO( <em> Hehe... what a big, stupid palooka. Great idea, Luigi! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>comments to Boolossus made Luigi snicker just a bit as he saw the massive boo going over to the knocked chairs and noticed that there was only the plunger on the floor next to the knocked chairs. Looks like Boolossus fell for the trap, as the green plumber goes visible again while behind it. "<em>S-surprise!</em>" Quickly, he turns on the vacuum nozzle to get a grip on the boo.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>ACK!! No, let me go!!</em>" The massive Boo tried to wriggle out, but his mobility was replaced in favor of the large frame. There was no way he was getting out of <em> this </em> one! With its tail stuck, another good slam into sharp objects caused more Boos to be dissolved into their individual person, then promptly sucked up!</p><p> </p><p>After slamming Boolossus into lots of sharp and pointy objects on the floor, Luigi quickly gets most of the individual boos this time around; though there was a couple left and wasn't enough to form into the massive boo once more - so they try to run off while the green plumber tries to get them. But since the boos easily ran away at the sight of Luigi nearby, he had-to think of hiding in order to capture the last of the boos as his body goes invisible again to snatch them up.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Dang, they move so fast! I forget how quick they can move around... kind of makes me jealous that I've never been that fast. </em> ) But for sure, she was craftier than what she gave herself credit for at times. .oO( <em> They might be hiding in boxes and things now... turn on the dark light if you think they're in an object. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-yes, they might have hidden somewhere... </em> ) Agreeing with Boocille, his body goes visible and turns on the darklight to try to hunt them down. Though, once he notices traces of the last two are at, he turns off the darklight and goes invisible once more as he disturbs the object to get them out. .oO( <em> C-come out~ </em> ) He thought, though it wasn't towards Boocille, but towards the evil boos.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... Luigi, look. Over there, in that box. There might be something in it. </em> ) An overturned box was suspect, especially with how when the darklight was on it, it would scoot and try to face any holes within the cardboard <em> away </em> from the light. Ah- <em> ha </em>! There's the little bully!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi didn't notice the overturned box when the darklight had shined upon it at first, but once Boocille relayed the message, he walks over to it while still invisible and opens up the box- making the boo come out though it made the green stache jump; but also not making a sound. The boo notices that there was no one around it from what it seemed, until he goes visible again with the vacuum nozzle as he turned it on right next to the boo. "<em> I-I Got you now! </em>" The boo shrieks as it was caught off guard and gets caught into its vacuum hold and gets pulled in quickly into the chamber. Now there's only one left, as he hunts the last one that's hiding.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Ah-ha! Luigi! You're fantastic, you do a very good job cleaning hose of these big Boo-llies! Hehe, get it? Do ya? </em> ) Boocille playfully chirped, clapping her small, stubby hands as they both continued this hunt for the last hiding specter.</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Boocille, Luigi softly smirks a bit from the little joke; though he continues on to find the last of the boos. Looks like this boo is hiding much better than the other one as the green plumber searches with the darklight to see where its trail is leading towards. "<em>C-come out wh-where ever y-you are...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> ... I think I may know where he is, but you might need a </em> <b> <em>lightbulb</em> </b> <em> to go off. </em> ) The less than subtle hint prompted a look up to the ceiling to a hanging lighting fixture. The bulb sputtered and made the slight Boo cackling noise. Ahh, so this little guy thought it was a good idea to find an <em> ironic </em> hiding spot?</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, he sees the lighting fixture not working as well as most others and goes over to it. Being cautious, he just turns on the suction nozzle and aims it at the fixture to shake it a bit - it made the boo come out, which was the original boo he found before the other boos showed up. Shaking, he kept the nozzle at the boo. "<em>I-I got y-you now!!</em>" While trying to get his courage, he sucks up the life force from the boo while it's trying to run away, but it wasn't able to run away very easily and all of its life force until it got sucked up into the poltergust.</p><p>Sighing heavily after the last boo had gotten captured, the poltergust shakes a bit as he holds onto the handle tight and spits out a golden heart as well as a key to the center of the mess hall. Luigi takes his hat off and wipes his head from the sweat before putting it back on. "<em>Phew... Th-that was close...</em>" After noticing the golden heart and key, he goes over to the items and clicks on the new button on the nozzle to suck up the golden heart to a special part in the poltergust while picking up a new key. "A-alright! Finally g-gotten wh-what I n-needed for H-Hatty..." He said to himself, as he quickly heads out of the mess hall as fast as he could while trying not to trip over himself with all of the mess after the spectral gates lift up from the doors.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> This was splendid, Luigi. Now Hatty won't have to deal with the struggles of recovery, and we're one step closer to taking the tyrants down! </em> ) Her adorable determination resonated through between the rumbling, sucking and idle humming of the poltergust. Now, with a heart in tow, they could bring it to the captain and he can be back up on his feet in <em> no time!</em></p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> This new part might have more use than what we could imagine... could keep us from ending up empty handed, or low on energy! Especially for Hatty... sure, he has Anubis, but he's just a baby. I don't think he understands how to help anyone yet. While I'm not as helpful as Polterpup, I'm still happy to help you. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Luigi mentally nods, .oO( <em> Y-yes, and we c-can get out of here! </em> ) The plumber rushes through the halls as fast as he could back to the loading docks to deliver the golden heart to Hatty, while still being careful of not being spotted as he uses the cloaking ability in brief moments when he sees ghosts in the hallways to pass through them - which made the ghost confused when they felt something breeze by but didn't know what.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily, they were able to pass by without much incident and returned to the docks. There, Hatty was shivering from the pain, looking pale and sweating. The doctors had become increasingly worried about him, unable to do much else but treat the symptoms with what they had. "<em>Luigi! </em> Oh, thank God you're here." Dorchester cried out. "Hatty's condition hasn't been improving... please tell me you found something to help him. I think he's going into shock from his injuries."</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Hatty isn't doing too well, Luigi gets worried as he clicks one of the buttons on his nozzle and aims it at the captain- launching the golden heart from the nozzle to him in hopes of helping. "I hope this helps..." The golden heart was absorbed almost immediately, which made his injuries heal quickly to the point that there's no more pain from within.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty's pallor visage began to flush and return to its more cherubic tone, his eyes opened and the sweating stopped. Blinking, he woke up from his stupor and looked about. "<em>Whh... w-what happened to me? </em> I might've blacked out... am... am I okay?" "You are now, thanks to the bravery of Luigi and the ingeniousness of Dr. Gadd. How are you feeling now, captain?" "Better, for sure..."</p><p> </p><p>"I-I'm glad you're okay." Luigi comes over to Hatty and stands next to him. "I-I had-to fight B-Boolossus... In the mess hall..." While moping a bit and looking down at the floor, "I-it's more of a <em> mess </em> now..." He looks back up with a smirk and a little more cheerful expression. "But, at least you're okay now~" Luigi's happy tone would definitely lift up Hatty's spirits as he gives a thumbs up.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, goodness..!" Hatty hopped up and put his hands on Luigi's shoulders, looking him around. "Are you okay? Did that big, bully bellend hurt you? What happened out there?" "Yep, he's <em> just </em> fine."</p><p> </p><p>"I-I'll be okay." The green-clothed lad says to Hatty as he pats one of his hands. "Also, Gadd wants to see you." Luigi points to the lab where Gadd is waiting, though he grabs Hatty's hand and brings the captain with him to the lab.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah- he did?" Following along as his hand was taken by the plumber, he was curious to what the doctor wanted to see of him.</p><p> </p><p>As the two had gotten into the lab, Gadd was happily waiting for Hatty to come in. "Looks like you're feeling better. Did the upgrade work?" Luigi nods and smiles, "Sure did!" "Good. Mr. Hatty, I would need to upgrade the same feature once more on your poltergust as well." Gadd mentions as he hands out his arms for Hatty to give his vacuum for a little bit.</p><p> </p><p>"What's this new feature?" Hatty asked, handing off his vacuum with curiosity gleaming in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>As Gadd takes the poltergust 5000, he turns around to immediately work on the same feature that Luigi has installed just a bit ago. With an older model, it took just a bit longer to get it installed, but once he was done, the professor turned his chair around to give the vacuum back to Hatty. "It's a feature where you can capture the <em> hearts </em> that drop, and can be used for safekeeping until it's needed, like what Luigi here had-to do in order to get you healed up. But, it can only hold up to one of those hearts at a time; so you can't stockpile them."</p><p> </p><p>"Ooh~! That's <em> pure </em> genius! One's better than nothing, so it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Like before, with the blades... which was <em> really </em> bad." Then it dawned on him. "<em>Oh bollocks!! </em> Brianne! What of- what of them? Are they okay?! I remember, we had to break their <em> head </em> open!! Oh good Lord, tell me we didn't <em> destroy </em> them!"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Gadd thinks as he taps his chin with his finger. "Well, since Brianne was not the typical ghostly crew mate, I might have-to think of something." The professor turns around and gets to work while Luigi goes to empty his chamber from his poltergust into the ghost vault- sending Brianne in. At the time, Gadd turns off the transfer to the extractor for now. "Not to worry, Mr. Hatty~ I'll get Brianne back, just need to tinker with his robotic suit to help him again."</p><p> </p><p>"Alright... I-I just don't want any of my friends to be lost, or hurt because of any of this! I don't know what I'd do if anyone was hurt. Goodness... I couldn't possibly fathom." Bad enough he had to smack up his spectral friends a bit in order to draw them into the device.</p><p> </p><p>"I-I know how you feel, Hatty." Luigi pats his side gently after he comes back to the captain. "He'll be in good hands." He muttered. "L-let's go rescue more of our f-friends and family~" With a slightly cheery mood, Luigi sets out of the lab with Hatty in tow, off to their next part in their adventure! Just they hope that they don't get to the point that they'll die again...</p><p><br/>With his poltergust hoisted back onto his shoulders, Hatty- with fresh faced determination- was up alongside Luigi. "I swear to you, Luigi, I'll ensure that <em> your </em> friends, family and sweetheart are freed from the portraits and you'll be back home within your lovely Kingdom in no time at all! It's the least that I could do for your selfless sacrifice to save <em> me </em> and my ship."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Deadliest Cold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the newly fresh determination from the captain and the plumber, the two set off to go to their next destination in the ship as Luigi shows the key that Boolossus dropped earlier. "Have any idea where this one would go?" Luigi asks, even though his GameBoo Advance SP can show the way of where it goes, but probably Hatty knows more about who it belonged to.</p><p> </p><p>"I... vaguely remember? I know it goes up above us, just not the <em> room </em> itself..." Seems that the while of being stuck as a spirit left his brain a little squished and confused.</p><p> </p><p>"Heh, just wondering if you knew, s-since you're the captain and all." Luigi pats Hatty's side gently as they march on to get to the upper floor. Though once they reached the flight of stairs to get to the next floor, the green plumber puts slight pressure on the wooden steps with his foot to make sure they're stable before slowly climbing up them and holds onto the railing- just in case.</p><p> </p><p>Learning their lesson from the last time, Hatty climbed along with Luigi, being sure to hold firm onto the rails to make sure neither went sliding again. Thankfully, they made it up to the upper level, where parts of the floor were mere <em> boards </em> that checker boarded across and made for a perilous trapeze of a path. "... crud. Just when I thought things might get easier."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gulps, seeing a lot of boards missing on the floor; he tries to step on one of them to see if it's stable. "I-I hope it's s-stable..." Standing on one of the stable boards, he tries to keep his balance on the small floorboard, which are more like a long and multiple balance beams on some parts of the hallways. The green plumber tries to keep his balance as he goes along the floorboards slowly. "<em>C-come on... W-we need t-to keep going...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Following along with Luigi, Hatty holds his arms out as he walks forward, trying to keep himself steady and stable. "<em>Ehh..!</em>" Wobbling, he slowly sank down... yep, walking wasn't going to work. Hugging the beam below him, he opted to instead crawl over the structured wood lattice.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi snickers a bit after Hatty went down to hold onto the floorboards, though he got to the end of it and looked down, noticing that the hole was a little too wide for them to just <em> walk </em> over. "<em>Oh dear...</em>" Looking around he notices the floorboard ahead of him and leaps to it. "<em>W-woah!!</em>" As he regains his balance, he waits for Hatty to come over as well while trying to not fall. "<em>C-come on, I-I'll wait for you!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Whimpering out at seeing Luigi jumping, Hatty knew he had no choice. Shakily getting up, his legs shook like leaves in a hurricane, walking back before taking a few long steps and jumped... nearly <em> missing!</em> Clutching onto the floor, his fingernails dug against the panels, staring up at Luigi fearfully. Beneath him was a watery demise with the ripping, soul-suckingly cold tide ready to swallow him up. "<em>Help..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing what transpired, Luigi quickly gets down to help Hatty up, grabbing a hold of his hands and tries to pull him up. Though, since Luigi is much smaller than Hatty and heavier, the green plumber is struggling to get him up. "<em>I-I g-ghotcha..!!</em>" While worrying about ghosts coming around to scare him, he thinks of an idea.</p><p>While holding the captain's hand with one of his, he grabs his nozzle and launches the plunger on the ceiling and grabs Hatty's vacuum nozzle and turns it on to suck up the knot to bring him up from the hole and above the narrow passage of the floorboards.</p><p> </p><p>Being hoisted up by Luigi's incredible ingenuity, Hatty's feet were firmly on the ground once again, taking a few ragged breaths and wiping his brow. "<em>Phew... </em> t-thank you, Luigi..! I thought I was a goner..!"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yeah... I was worried too.</em>" With a sigh of relief, Luigi turns around to continue on; since the floorboards are sporadic of what's still intact and what's fallen apart. "<em>W-wish we kn-knew about th-this before...</em>" Luigi mentions, as most the holes just lead to the floor below, luckily; but a few actually did drop all the way into the ocean and had-to watch their every step.</p><p> </p><p>"L-let's just try to get across, t-then we'll figure out a safer route back. ... all things considered, we should probably see what we can salvage from the wood that may be loose? W-we would build a make-shift bridge. I started my career as a ship repairman, after all!"</p><p> </p><p>"G-good idea~" Luigi nods as continues on, being careful into hoping he doesn't slip or tip over. After hopping to each floorboard every so often with Hatty right behind him and both feeling scared of falling into one of the holes, they reached the point to where the flooring is much more intact and can walk normally again with a sigh of relief. "<em>Mamma Mia... </em> Th-that was scary..." The green plumber takes his hat off and wipes the sweat before putting it back on.</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you so much for the help, Luigi! The seas down there are looking mighty nasty, would be devastating to be lost in those tides... I don't even know <em> where </em> we are anymore. Where's this bloody ship gone?" Looking out a porthole window, there was nothing but the open, empty sea with grey skies. A bitter chill nipped the air as ice began to fall from the skies in the delicately knitted crystals... snow. "Oh, bugger... we're <em> far </em> up North by now."</p><p> </p><p>Looking further out the window, he could see nothing but the snow beginning to strike the ocean with sheets of ice scraping the bottom. "Crud."</p><p> </p><p>Looking outside from the porthole window with Hatty and seeing the cold coming in, he could see his breath coming out of his mouth. "L-looks like, it's getting c-cold inside as well..." His teeth started to chatter a bit, though the cold wasn't as bad as being in that meat freezer from earlier.</p><p>As they keep going, they reach their destination with the key. But before Luigi even attempts to try to open the door, he looks around to see if any ghosts are around- since they've encountered plenty before opening any kind of door. Once the coast is clear, the green-clothed lad takes the key out of his pocket and unlocks the door. Luckily this key didn't vanish like some others and pulls it out before quivering a bit as he grabs the door knob and turns it, slowly opening the door and peaks inside. "<em>H-hello..?</em>" Luigi quietly mutters out while shining his light through the slight opening.</p><p> </p><p>Looking into this particular room, it appeared to be a gangway- a sort of storage for smaller ships and emergency lifeboats to be stored for replacement if one was used or broken on the off chance. This small room was filled with rope, smelling of must and filled to the brim with dust and memories. Hatty shone his flashlight in and approached a life boat that appeared to be decorated to look to have a lion's head and snake's tail. "... this little life boat... I remember. Nigel painted this... he was always a rather interesting fellow. Reginald swore <em> never </em> to use it, we used it for plays instead since it was so expertly crafted."</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Luigi imagines what Hatty was talking about as he opens the door more and tip toes inside to try not to make a sound. Being inside the gangway, he walks closer to the much smaller ship and goes down the steps to get close to it. "I-I never knew you h-had a smaller boat." The green plumber points out as he looks up to the captain. "M-maybe th-this could be our o-only chance of escape..?" He wonders, since the small boat can lead to the outside, just with prying the doors open and shoving the boat out.</p><p> </p><p>"We can't simply <em> abandon </em> the ship! There's no way... <em> I </em> can't do that. My friends, my family... <em> your </em> family and friends. We need to help them first... as for getting us off the ship? I'm... sure we could fit the ship's crew and your friends onto the boats. I'm sure there's enough room for that, though... I can't simply abandon my ship. Even though she's rotted and mostly a corpse on water, I made a promise to go down with my ship, irrespective of what anyone was to say." A captain going down with his ship, it was an honorable thing... if not horrendously sad. "... however, if my ship survives and I can have her revived? I know what I have to do then... ... ... sorry, I had a bit of a moment. I'm sorry, I'm okay now."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yeah, I know...</em>" Luigi sighs heavily, "S-sometimes I would want t-to just... Run away, but with friends and family here, I can't a-abandon them..." Though knocking onto the small boat's hull a few times, he gets an idea. "P-probably, once we get enough of the crew and our friends to safety, we can use these to get them to s-sail away from the ship to stay away until we free this ship from K-K-King B-Boo and that Maya..."</p><p> </p><p>"... I suppose so, but I don't even know where we <em> are </em> right now. I can't allow them to sail off to some... arctic Hellhole without any habitation, then they might freeze to death. I can't... not after what... what I already put my crew through <em> before</em>. The <em> many </em> years of terror and horrible things they went through." The man turned about, sitting on the side of a lifeboat. </p><p> </p><p>"Ages ago, we came across this island... After our ship was <em> ravaged </em> by a freak storm, we had to maroon ourselves due to the damage to the hull. We would've sunk into the depths like a brick otherwise. Then... there were cats. As <em> silly </em> as that sounds, they were <em> taller </em> than most of us, stronger... somehow, those damn felines took us <em> prisoner</em>. They put this <em> haunted </em> headgear on me... this old, cured Victorian aged top hat that was <em> filled </em> with the voices, despair and pain of <em> countless </em> failed theater owners passed. Beyond their initial owner, this rich fellow that dedicated his life to entertainment with musical theater and his cats, died suddenly and his spirit was sequestered within the hat. Henceforth, his abandoned felines continued to try to find someone to replace him... until they found me. Their murderous instincts and frustrations lead them to create a theater where <em> all </em> of my friends were used as their <em> puppets </em> . Slaughtered: burned, drowned, bifurcated, mangled, eaten alive... all while I could do <em> nothing </em> to stop them but be locked in a prison of my <em> own body</em>. And this went on for over <em> five years </em> until somehow, we'd managed to escape. After... much is a blur, I can't remember much without it feeling like I have a <em> splitting </em> headache. Almost like... like <em> time itself </em> was split asunder. Nothing then makes sense, but I <em> do </em> remember finally waking up in the sick bay." </p><p>A small pause...</p><p>"... after that, I <em> swore </em> to keep my friends- my <em> ship </em> - away from any danger. I kept that promise for some time, until things ran... well, cold. Then, as before, we ended up in the <em> throat </em> of the hungry beast. Just as before, just as seemingly <em> always...</em> I threw us into the maws of trouble. I can't let them just sail off and risk never seeing them <em> alive</em>. I'd rather we take back the ship and try to find the nearest dock, unless absolutely necessary to abandon ship. But I know that <em> once </em> we do place an anchor... my role as captain shall end. I'm... I'm <em> no </em> captain, for what captain <em> damns </em> his crew to <em> ages </em> of terror, pain, slavery and <em> death?</em> If the ship is to sink, I'd rather drown between her broken ribs than be a <em> scur </em> to them. I'd sooner be forgotten in time than remembered for the pain I've caused."</p><p> </p><p>After listening to the whole story from Hatty, the crew, and the ship's past, Luigi felt sad, and had no words to say. "<em>I-I'm sorry t-to mention th-that idea... And, I-I'm that all happened, in the past...</em>" WIth a sad expression on his face, he pats Hatty on his side in hopes of being supportive for him and not wanting to leave the captain's side. "<em>N-no matter what happens, I-I'll stick by you...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you, Luigi... though, I care more about getting your family and friends out of here more than you having to be stuck with me, lest something <em> even worse </em> happens to you. Heavens forbid... and I'll be <em> damned </em> before I would let those two tyrants pull you down."</p><p> </p><p>With a slight smile, Luigi gently grabs Hatty's hand and continues on, as they keep looking for <em> something </em> inside the gangbay. What they didn't know is that there was a ghost hiding within the shadows as the whole place got <em> colder </em> by the second. "<em>I-is it just me, o-or is it getting c-c-colder in h-here..?</em>" Luigi shivers as he looks around, sensing the presence of a ghost nearby but doesn't know where.</p><p> </p><p>Sniffing the air, Hatty didn't smell a wintry frost... It was a cold, and not the nice kind of cold. An <em> evil </em> chill that left your soul quivering. "... we're not alone in here anymore, Luigi. Get your poltergust ready."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he tightens his grip while looking around. As the two look around the large gangbay, the floor gets colder, and more <em> slippery;</em> which made Luigi slip a bit, but was able to keep his balance. "<em>Oh d-dear... W-watch wh-where you s-step..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty didn't heed the warning in time, and with a wrong set, a <em> calamity</em>. One leg went forward, one foot stayed, perfectly <em> splitting </em> him. Splayed perfectly in twain, his <em> church bells </em> were thoroughly rung, with his voice pitched higher than a choir boy's tune. "<em>Ack... nuhh... duh--</em>" Yeah, he was going to be walking funny for a while.</p><p> </p><p>After hearing the screech from Hatty, Luigi turns around to help him up. "<em>A-are you okay?!</em>" His voice felt concerned, though the ice isn't helping him pull the captain up onto his feet. While doing so, a soft giggle from the back was heard from the two, making Luigi shiver a bit with a gulp.</p><p> </p><p>Managing to get himself to his knees, the look on Hatty's face looked like he was a small child that was told that Santa Claus didn't exist. Clutching himself with one hand, he took the other's hand and stayed firm on his knees. As stiff as a brick, all he could do was sputter and whine out so he didn't scream his lungs out. Poor bastard... he's a nice, chubby weight of about 196- giving him a bit of a dad bod- and <em> all of that </em> came crashing down from his church bells to the aisle to the backdoor confessional booth (so to speak). He's going to be feeling that for a while. All the while, a few hiding Boos were clutching their mouths, trying their best not to belt out in laughter.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as more of the giggle comes out, Luigi looks over with his flashlight to see where the source of the noise was coming from. "<em>Wh-who's there..?</em>" He questioned, after helping Hatty up. With more giggles echoing the gangway chambers, the green-clothed lad goes to the direction of the sound; amid slowly since the floor gotten all slippery from the sheet of ice that formed unnaturally quickly.</p><p> </p><p>"Nhh... I-I think I can get up now-" Hatty cleared his throat, having had it jump an octave. "I'm okay... <em> ... even though I think something's hurt-</em>" He could feel a stinging <em> somewhere </em>, but that wasn't his biggest concern. Clutching onto his flashlight, he looked about, spotting the outline of a Boo that his flashlight crashed through. Seems that little bastard was still trying not to laugh its tail off at Hatty nearly tearing himself a new butthole.</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi getting just far enough away from Hatty, the plumber felt a harsh, cold wind blow right on him; which made his mind go into overdrive and try to run away from it, but he was blown back, "<b><em>AAAIIEEEE!!</em></b>" All the way back to the captain while face planted onto the freezing floor as his body shivers from the cold. "<em>C-c-coollddd...</em>" He struggles to sit up, as icicles formed on his big nose and his mustache, of how <em> intense </em> the freezing cold wind was on him.</p><p> </p><p>"Good lord! You look nearly frozen o--" Before Hatty could say much more, there was a sudden <em> splatter </em> against his face. Like an insult to injury on the captain, a <em> snowball </em> was chucked at his face. Wiping it from his face, his teeth began chattering as <em> several </em> Boos sank through the wood works... all of which were bundled in wintry clothes and armed with snowballs. Uh-oh!</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi was able to get up and tries to knock the icicles from his face, he hides behind the captain while still shivering. "<em>O-Oh n-no...</em>" He shines the light at the boos, while all the way in the back of the boo group, a ghost of one of the crew mates is there! All bundled up just like the boos are, and has no idea of who it is. Though, Hatty realizes that it was Maggie, all the way in the back!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... Maggie?</em>" He cried out before the hurdle of <em> ghastly </em> snowballs were tossed! These little things charged at them, turning into jagged ice with blackened smirks that cackled at them. Seeing the incoming danger, fight or flight overtook the pain in his nethers, hoisting Luigi up and sliding with a frantic scurry away. "<em>We need to find cover!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the boos with the sharp and jagged icicles, Luigi yelps as he gets carried by the captain away from danger. "<em>Ohhh nooo!!</em>" He covers his face with his hat, though it was still damaged from the last ghost encounter. With the snowballs hitting the two, the green plumber thinks of an idea and switches to the vacuum nozzle to suck up the snowballs to stop them from hitting both.</p><p> </p><p>The vacuum was able to suck up quite a few... that was until some of the crew revealed <em> their </em> powers: multiplying those things to a <em> crazy </em> degree! Rushing over to a door, Hatty saw how frozen it was to its hinges. Sucking at it with his poltergust, he managed to snag it and with a few good wriggles, snapped it off! Ah-ha! A shield! "This will keep us from getting hit until we can figure out how to get these little bullies to drop their snowballs!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he hides behind Hatty with the <em> shield </em> , just as the spectral gates come down on all doors in the gangway as well as blocking off all around the smaller boat - as if the gates are getting more wise and not wanting the two heroes to hide in the smaller boat. "<em>W-we're t-trapped!</em>" He mentions as he keeps sucking up the snowballs and the boos with Maggie disappear into hiding, as if they're planning a surprise attack.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Shoot..!</em>" Wait a moment... <em> shoot?</em> "L-Luigi, is there a way to reverse the poltergust to <em> shoot </em> the snowballs back at these specters? These Boos don't seem <em> too </em> strong! M-maybe there's a way to return fire..!"</p><p> </p><p>"Uhhh... All I could th-think of is to use the b-blower..." Luigi frowns as he looks up to Hatty, since he doesn't know any other way of using the snowballs to go back to them, as he goes on ahead with the darklight to see where the boos are <em> really </em> hiding. "<em>W-we'll th-think of s-something, s-so th-that we can--</em>" Just as when Luigi had went to an empty space in the gangway, he left himself vulnerable as the green plumber wasn't expecting a large snow pack that showed up above and dumped right onto him without warning. "<b><em>ACK!!</em></b>" Completely buried in the cold snow, he tries to dig himself out as quickly as he could before his body starts to freeze.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping when Luigi was buried alive beneath the snow, the Boos were cackling and pointing as Hatty turned his own poltergust into the blowing section before forcing the snow off of him. Turning back to the ghosts, he furrowed his brow and looked about... there were some pipes above that seemed to have some steam from the engine room still running. Ah, he could break those pipes and put an end to this winter game! But how on Earth could he break them? Looking about, there were large, sharp formations of ice that began to harden around the floor and walls. That's <em> perfect!</em> If he could use those to break the pipes, that would be perfect! "... Luigi, you have your <em> friend </em> get you to safety. I have an idea!"</p><p> </p><p>Though some of the snow had uncovered a part of Luigi's head so he could breathe at least, he swiveled his body around to help get the snow loosened up around him a bit, but it was <em> packed </em> tight enough to keep him stuck for a little while. "<em>I-I hope you'll b-be okay, H-Hatty..!</em>" The cold from the snow is seeping into his clothing as it melts, which makes his body shiver a little more violently as he feels his body starting to get colder by the <em> second </em> . .oO( <em> B-Boocille... I-I'm f-feeling c-c-cold... </em> ) His mind races as the green plumber tries to get out.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille could tell there was something happening. She was endothermic herself, only taking heat, so instead she allowed Luigi to fade from the snow and dive towards the warm pipes that still rattled to life against the walls. .oO( <em> Find warmth quickly, you're getting too cold! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty skittered clumsily over the icy floor, the snowballs pelting against him and eventually knocking him over to the Boo's delight. On the floor, he saw how close he was to the icicles... turning the suction on, he <em> broke </em> one of the large crystals off. Pulling it from the nozzle before it could be sucked down, he put it long ways down, suction on once more before focusing on a pipe. With a blast, and a flying shard of solid ice, the pipe <em> screamed </em> open as superheated steam turned much of the ice and snowballs into melted slush, allowing for parts where they could stay warm <em> and </em> avoid falling. "<em>Got it!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the snow and ice melting, Luigi gets close to the heated pipe after escaping the pile of snow with Boocille's help as he goes visible once again to not drain her energy. The warmth helped his body get warmer and melt the icicles off from his nose and mustache, as well as drying his clothes. "<em>Th-thank you, Hatty...</em>" Luigi gives a thumbs up with a smile, .oO( <em> And th-thank you, Boocille... </em> )</p><p>After getting warmed up enough, Luigi goes back into battle with his darklight, shining on a couple boos to stun them and then slam the stunned ones onto the floor to weaken them before sucking them in.</p><p> </p><p>While this was happening, the Boos were busy targeting Hatty. "<em>Get him!! He's melting all the ice in here, he's turning this place into a sauna!</em>" "<em>I hate the heat, make that sorry excuse of a captain stop!</em>" Some of the Boos decided to instead straight on attack him, but their choice of clothes were their undoing, as the sweaters and scarves were caught in the suction force and drawn into his poltergust. "Gotcha!" Now to the colder section where snowballs could still pelt... another act of slipping around, he had to bear the brunt of a few snowballs pelting him. "<em>Ah- ow!! Ah- stop throwing </em> <b> <em>ice</em> </b> <em> at me!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luckily the boos here isn't as strong compared to the other boos that Luigi encountered in the past as he charges at a few other boos that are feeling the <em> heat </em> from the hot steam and quickly captures them. "<em>G-gotcha!</em>"</p><p>During the midst of capturing a few boos, there was an elemental ghost floating around a little above the green plumber, an ice elemental one to be more precise. Luigi spots it and sucks up the elemental spirit. After sucking it up, one of the features he remembers using back in the first mansion had activated in his new poltergust. "<em>Ohh~</em>" With his wide-eyed look on his face, he didn't notice one of the boos coming after him for a split second. Once Luigi notices, the blower nozzle blows the icy wind to the boo and instantly freezes the boo and falls to the icy floor. That made it easy for the green plumber to suck up the boo. "<em>E-excellent..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>At seeing the commotion, Hatty pushed through the barrage and focused heavily on breaking open the pipes to set free <em> more </em> steam. <b> <em>KRSSSSSHHHHHHhhh...</em> </b> with a monophonic wheeze, more ice and snow did melt away, leaving more openings of free floors to walk upon and areas to avoid being frozen solid. However, this was just the <em> beginning </em> of the worries. As the pipes hissed out, some would continue out into the cold and freeze over, only serving with more ammo for some of these mischievous Boos. Turning his head, Hatty was <em> nailed </em> in the brow with an icy snowball, causing him to <em> spin </em> with confusion and disorientation. Yep, his bell was <em> well </em> rung.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>H-Hatty..!</em>" Luigi notices that the captain got hit in the head a little too much as he gets the courage and charges at the boos that are still throwing snowballs with the icy wind from the nozzle and freezes the boos before capturing them, one by one until only a couple boos and Maggie are remaining. After getting back to Hatty, the green plumber worries about him. "<em>A-are y-you okay..?</em>" Luigi asks with concern in the tone of his voice.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head with an audible babbling, he was definitely seeing stars. Looking up to Luigi, his vision was doubled with his eyes unable to focus a moment. "<em>... are you a good witch, or a bad witch?</em>" After another moment of retuning himself, he managed to reconnect to reality after having his senses knocked free. "I-I'm okay now, I'm fine..! Ow... w-who's left?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi snickers a bit after hearing random things about witches from Hatty's mouth, but once the captain regains his senses, "Th-there's only a couple boos left, along with... <em> Maggie?</em>" The green plumber remembers Hatty reciting her name before they were attacked, though the last couple boos and Maggie hides once more in order to defend themselves.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>M-Maggie's one tough crew mate, s-she's one at least four snowball tournaments for her unmatched--</em>" As he was talking, a snowball hit him <em> straight </em> in the mouth, causing him to choke out and spit up bits of ice. Sheesh, they were going <em> ham </em> on him! "<em>Gotcha, ya stupid Frenchman!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Just as when Hatty had gotten pelted from the snowball in his mouth, Luigi gets hit on a few snowballs as well - one on his cheek and knocks his hat a little loose from his head and a couple on his torso. "Owie! <em> Such meanies...</em>" He whines, as he holds his cheek with his hand and seeing the last of the boos and Maggie giggling and cackling from what they're doing.</p><p>Luigi thought up an idea, as he uses one of Boocille's abilities to go <em> invisible </em> and quietly hunts the boos down. Of course, the boos and Maggie notices that the green plumber went invisible and gets scared themselves as they hide from him and not knowing when he'll show up on top of them. As soon as Luigi was in range with one of the boos, he blows the freezing wind from his vacuum to freeze the boo and suck the frozen boo up, leaving one remaining boo and Maggie; though the two had noticed where Luigi is now and floated away to hide in different spots of the gangway.</p><p> </p><p>After spitting up the last bit of ice, Hatty continued as Maggie was horrified away off to the side and distracted, giving him enough time to blast open the last pipe. With that, it made the room <em> completely </em> habitable! Humid, warm and kept the bitter cold at bay. "<em>Ah-ha!</em> Try to pelt us <em> now!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After the whole gangway has all the ice melted, Luigi was able to grip onto the floor more easily and keeps trying to find the boo and Maggie. Since he didn't want to exhaust Boocille's abilities, he goes visible again and looks around with the darklight. "<em>C-come out, wh-where ever you are..!</em>" He chatters in fear as he gets to one of the closed boxes and opens it up slowly. Looking inside, he wasn't expecting more fireworks and scared the green plumber! "<b><em>WAAHAHH!!</em></b>" He falls flat on his butt, though he quickly recovers and gets up, quivering in fear. "<em>I-I d-don't l-like th-them... S-scaring me l-like th-that...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Helping the man back up to his feet after he was scared stiff from the fireworks, Hatty panned about and noticed a silhouette gliding along the corner of the room. Turning on his darklight, he caught the outline of someone. "<em>Ah, ha! Maggie, I gotcha!</em>" Turning on his vacuum, he took off after, hoping to snag the specter.</p><p> </p><p>With his own darklight, Luigi calms down a bit as the dense fog rolls in on the floor as the green plumber sees trails of the fog moving about while the last boo and Maggie were invisible! "O-oh no..!" Once one of the trails get closer to him, he shines the darklight at it, having the boo get more and more visible until it goes completely opaque and gets dizzy from the darklight. While the boo was vulnerable, Luigi blows the freezing air onto the boo, making it frozen completely and sucks it up with ease. "<em>Th-that was c-close...</em>" He mutters out his breath as he goes to help Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>With his own darklight, Luigi calms down a bit as the dense fog rolls in on the floor as the green plumber sees trails of the fog moving about while the last boo and Maggie were invisible! "O-oh no..!" Once one of the trails gets closer to him, he shines the darklight at it, having the boo get more and more visible until it goes completely opaque and gets dizzy from the darklight. While the boo was vulnerable, Luigi blows the freezing air onto the boo, making it frozen completely and sucks it up with ease. "<em>Th-that was c-close...</em>" He mutters out his breath as he goes to help Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing forward with his darklight swiftly waning, Hatty made the bold move and caught Maggie in his clutches. "<em>ACK- let me go, you ruffian!</em>" "I won't let you go until you're normal again!" Shouting out, Hatty gave Maggie a good shaking about, giving the corrupted spirit what for before finally sucking them into the machine... <em> phew!</em> The gangway was cleared!</p><p> </p><p> After all of the boos and Maggie had been captured, the spectral gates lift up, finally freeing the two heroes to move on to the next spot on the old, rundown S.S. Friendship. Luckily that Hatty didn't need much help from Luigi as he finally caught up to the captain. "<em>A-at least w-we can get out of here...</em>" Luigi says to Hatty as he hears rattling from the captain's vacuum chamber.</p><p> </p><p>"Phew... thankfully. At least it's warm in here. ... wonder if we can get these pipes to send this steam down to the docks? Poor Gadd must be cold, unless those computers run hot."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>M-maybe...</em>" Luigi goes to fix the pipes that lead to the loading docks the best he could without his plumbing tools, but manages to do so with rerouting them by turning the wheels with his vacuum; since the wheels were too high for him to reach.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up to the pipes that broke, there were the catalytic tubes that stretched further down the body of the ship. Hmm... <em> that </em> would need extensive repairs, but sometimes you need to break the walls to get the rats out of the woodworks! "I know that blasting those pipes down is going to bite me in the butt, but at least we got through that relatively intact."</p><p> </p><p>After getting all the pipes rerouted, Luigi gets worried about the other crew mates as well as the toads in the loading docks. "<em>W-well, we would n-ned to get heat down th-there before they freeze...</em>" He tells the captain, as they get to the doors of the gangbay to leave the place to get back to the others as quickly as they could. Though, Luigi points out the rattling in his vacuum chamber as they try to get back, though the two had-to cross the balance beam floorboards again.</p><p> </p><p>"Sheesh... back over these beams." Hatty looked down, the color draining from his face when he saw the raging water below, now dotted with sheets of salty ice. "<em>Good God...</em>" Shaking, he wriggled while calibrating his jump before springing forward, managing to land pretty well! Aside from spinning his arms and struggling to maintain balance, he was good! "Ah... haha... hahaha! I did it..! AH--" He nearly fell, dropping down to his stomach and clung to the beam. "<em>OKAYIWANTDOWNNOW-</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After seeing Hatty leap and land perfectly, Luigi claps with a cheery expression, until he saw Hatty clutching the floorboard beam again - prompting the plumber to snicker a bit. Though, Luigi does the same in leaping to the floorboard after the captain, but this time he lost his footing after landing on the beam and falls to the floor below, clutching the floor. "<em>Ohnoohnoohno..!!</em>" Luigi tries to pull himself up to the floor, but with the vacuum on his back is weighing him down a bit, he is struggling to get himself up.</p><p> </p><p>Skittering over like a cockroach, Hatty pulled Luigi up by his vacuum, levying the weight and pulling him up so he was no long dangling precariously. "<em>I got you, friend..! </em> Holy bananas, let's get out of this death trap..!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi squeaks when Hatty grabbed hold of his butt with his vacuum and get pulled up to the floor below. "<em>Th-thank you, Hatty...</em>" The green plumber pants heavily as he feels the sense of relief from almost falling into the ocean, but at least the floor below the balance beam floorboards are much more intact than the floor above and gets up while brushing himself off. "I-it's more safe down here!" Luigi informs the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Climbing forward and following Luigi's lead, he felt <em> much </em> more comfortable where the floor was secure and sound. "<em>Phew...</em> ah, this is so much better. That was scary. I do <em> not </em> like heights one darn bit."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>A-at least this f-floor is more st-stable...</em>" Luigi mutters out as they continue onward, hearing the rattling sound of a key inside Hatty's poltergust. "Is there a key inside your poltergust..?" He questions Hatty as he stops and looks back up to him.</p><p> </p><p>"Huh? I... think there may be?" Looking back to his poltergust, he could definitely hear some sort of obnoxious banging going on in there. "I think I might've gotten a key from Maggie, sucking them up, though I don't want to try to fish it out and risk them getting back out again."</p><p> </p><p>"W-well, let's empty our canisters to retrieve the key." Luigi scratches his chin a bit, "Probably get there faster with that teleporty gadget Gadd has installed in some parts of the ship."</p><p>As Luigi tags along Hatty, he scopes around from behind, making sure that there's no one behind them while the captain looks onward to find a way back to the loading docks. "<em>I-I just hope that no g-ghost comes around r-right about--</em>" Just had-to jynx it, huh? The spectral gates come crashing down and traps the two in, causing Luigi to jump from the sound. "<b><em>AAIIIEEE!!</em></b>" He shivers, scared for the ghosts to come get them. "<em>P-please n-no...</em>" The green plumber holds his nozzle tightly in his hands close to him while looking around and wondering where the ghosts would show up next, and who it would be this time.</p><p> </p><p>Up on his feet, Hatty looked determined, facing away from Luigi with his back to the other man's. "I've got you covered! Let's keep aware of what's coming our way!" He was sounding more and more ready the more they fought, the more they battled.</p><p> </p><p>What they weren't expecting is that, it was <em> quiet</em>... A little <em> too </em> quiet to say the least. They wonder who would show up this time. Even though the hallways were blocked off from getting away, one of the doors was still open for the two to go inside as the ghost of Hanx comes around and flits like he doesn't even know who is around him. Humming and whistling softly, Hanx finally notices Hatty and Luigi and quickly bails into the room next door that isn't blocked off. Luigi just barely noticed the ghost before it ran away into the next room and jumped a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"... wh-... Hanx..? Hanx, that was <em> him!</em>" Hatty seemed more shocked than anything, to see the man once more. "Good lord... I almost didn't recognize him, it's... it's truly been too long. Where has he gone?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi looks up after seeing Hanx flying away into the room next to him, as he gently tugs the captain's coat like a little kid and points to the unlocked door and goes over to the door. "I-I think he went in here..." He mentions, grabbing the door knob and slowly twists it to open the door quietly and look inside. "<em>H-hello..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Going along with Luigi to the room, Hatty took the initiative to find where this friend went. "... Hanx? Hanx, please come out! We can help you, we don't need to resort to violence, we can get this over with quickly. I swear..."</p><p> </p><p>The room was <em> pitch black </em> , no lighting in this room at all and no porthole to light the inside as the two couldn't see much once they got inside. Looking around with their flashlights to see what's inside, they notice that it was the weapons room with lots of swords, spears and <em> guns</em>... Oh boy, this could get <em> deadly </em> as Luigi gulps at seeing so much weapons in the small room. "<em>G-gee... M-must be a-a place t-to not be in...</em>" The plumber feels so scared and shivers as he traverses on wards to find Hanx. </p><p>What the two didn't know is that there were a couple other ghosts hiding within the weapons room, and one of them has a laser pointer pointing at Luigi as Hatty notices the red dot on the green stache.</p><p> </p><p>Dear <em> lord</em>, a weapons room. Hatty wished he didn't <em> need </em> such a room made, but sadly, it was important... especially after that incident on the island with the cats. Looking about in the darkness as his flashlight shone within the room, he had to double take at Luigi before nearly dropping the nozzle. "<em>LUIGI!!</em>" He didn't think, just tackled him to the ground as he realized what that laser was: it was from one of the weapons!</p><p> </p><p>"<b><em>ACK!!</em></b>" Seconds after Luigi gets tackled to the floor by Hatty, a shot is heard from one of the weapons from high above, missing the plumber and the captain. Luigi covers his head with his hands while scared and whimpers as well as having his heart beat quickly with adrenaline coursing through him, hoping to not get any more injured or <em> worse </em> ... "<em>I-I don't like this room...</em>"</p><p>The ghost that shot the bullet was angry that <em> missed </em> and decided to reload, since the rifles in the room are quite old and take a few reload as the two hear the ghost trying to reload; perfect timing for them to get up and <em> move! </em> Which the two did and try to hide from any further attacks.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing what sounded like a snub-nosed rifle being reloaded, Hatty urged Luigi across the floor, prompting him to scurry for cover. "<em>Hurry hurry hurry find cover find cover now..!</em>" Good lord, these damned spooks were using <em> actual guns </em> now?! The little malicious marshmallows had snowballs, now this bell end had <em> damn weapons of cranial mastication?!</em></p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he crawls to find a good hiding spot; but while doing so, they hear a <em> click</em>... That made the two quickly try to hide! Though what the green plumber was oblivious of, the two that had actual weapons aiming at the two, can see in the pitch blackness of the room when the two turned off their flashlights. Oh dear...</p><p>Once Luigi and Hatty hid behind a rack of weapons, the two ghosts tracked the two down where they went off to and aimed where they're hiding. "<em>H-hope they don't f-find us b-back here...</em>" Luigi quietly says to Hatty while shaking and hoping to not get <em> hit</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling his heart leaking into his throat, Hatty had felt scared before... but this time? It was <em> so </em> much worse! A knife? Bad. Flying furniture? Scary. Guns? <em> Not fun anymore and likely a violation of constitutional law</em>. He was physically shaking and pupils were down to pinpricks. Now he was <em> really </em> regretting not <em> padlocking </em> this damn weaponry closet! Looking about shakily around the weapon rack, there was the deafening sound of a rifle along with the ricocheting of a bullet that nearly struck the captain in the side of the face. Ducking back, <em> all </em> color drained from him. "<em>Oh good God, we're going to die here.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Not that it matters now, since ghosts can fly through walls to get to any room they desire - even if the rooms were padlocked. "<em>N-need to f-find a way t-to st-stop thi--</em>" Luigi was cut off as a shot went through the wooden board holding the swords, going between the two and scaring the living crap out of them, the two separate from each other just as the bullet went through and barely missing them; making the green plumber scream out in terror! "<b><em>WWAAAAHHHH!!</em></b>" With his hat jumping off his head for a second and his eyes narrow, he grabs his hat and covers his eyes and shivers a little more violently. .oO( <em> Ohnoohnoohno..!! </em> ) Luigi whimpers in fear, trying to think of a solution to fight against the ghosts without either of them getting hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille could hear the bullets raining down around them and rocket against the floor and walls. .oO( <em> Luigi! </em> ) Granting him the incorporeal ability, he could avoid the bullets and seek better shelter... unfortunately, Hatty was forced to crawl away and scurry further away, hiding and losing himself in several box crates filled with things such as bullets and rockets for much larger WMD weapons.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt the wave of Boocille's ability and a sense of calmness wash over his body as he went invisible and able to pass through objects this time around, going through the boards and boxes to try to find the ghosts responsible for firing the weapons at the two. While in the dark, Luigi could see <em> much </em> better in the pitch black dark, noticing the two ghosts high above, were the ghosts of the Secret Mission guys, as they were wearing night vision goggles for them to see better in the darkness as well without letting anyone else know where they're at. .oO( <em> S-so... Th-these ghosts can see in the dark... </em> ) Luigi thought to himself as he saw the two bickering at each other a bit and saying that both of them missed their targets.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You missed?! How could you miss, Hatty's hair is as plain as a deer's white hide!</em>" "<em>I don't know, but you arguing at me isn't going to help me any better at getting a shot in, you moron!</em>" The two ghosts hissed to each other, a gun turning back to Hatty, who thought he was safe while hiding in a box. Unfortunately, while one had x-ray goggles, one had heat-seekers... both of which were cataclysmic for the captain. Another shot was fired amidst the arguing at Hatty who was in a box, causing him to gasp and cry out loudly. Clutching his leg, a bullet pierced through his calf. While not too terrible, the muscle was scraped, causing <em> intense </em> agony.</p><p> </p><p>He tried to crawl once more, panicking and knocking things over... though, this served in his favor, allowing him to instead get some cover as bullets were deflected against metal beams and punctured into wood opposed to him again. Blood began to stream behind him as he continued to crawl and swear out. "<em>Ooouww, God help me!! Oouh, God, it burns it burrrns..!</em>" "<em>Haha! Listen to that little bastard screaming! Some captain he is. Let's put a bullet in him and shut that little lady mouth of his up! He screams like a girl, what a pansy.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While the two ghosts were focused on Hatty, Luigi was able to sneak right behind one of them and grabbed hold of him while still invisible and yanks off the night vision goggles to toss it on the floor as hard as he could to make it shatter into pieces! Though, that warned the other ghost and aimed his weapon at... No one? That got the other Secret mission guy confused and wondering why the first one is struggling.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>AAUGH!! FREEZE, YOU--</em>" With the goggles off, the two looked around to see no one. "<em>... how can there be no one?! Someone pulled our goggles off!</em>" "<em>Ack, they're broken! Forget it, let's just bag the "captain of the ship" and put his ugly mug on a wall! I'm sure his brother would love to use it as a dart board!</em>" Chuckling, they returned their barrels to Hatty, who was starting to struggle more as the pain began to set in. Trying to get to the door, the two specters pointed and fired... <em> click click click!</em> "<em>ARE YOU SERIOUS, WE'RE ALREADY OUT OF BULLETS!! Get another box, you worthless maniac!</em>" "<em>Worthless maniac?! Who're you calling worthless?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi mentally snickering from the two arguing after successful on one of them, he doesn't hesitate to leap onto the other ghost that was going to get more bullets and clam onto him from behind; grabbing hold of the goggles and yanking it off. Though this time, he uses Boocille's abilities to make it go invisible along with himself and leaps off of the ghost to land on the floor with a soft thud that echoed in the room. Of course, that enraged the two ghosts as Luigi quickly goes over to Hatty and taps him on his shoulder once going visible again. The green plumber hands the goggles to the captain before going invisible again to try to disarm the two ghosts.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over, Hatty saw Luigi once more, feeling more relief than pain. Seeing the goggles, he took the specs and put them on in order to get a better look out for the ghosts. The room was so dark and he was ramming wildly like a boar in the darkness. This left <em> both </em> ghosts blind in the room, the two now staring and bickering at each other now, neither paying attention to either the bleeding captain <em> nor </em> the mischievous plumber now creeping up on the two. Pointing up, Hatty was able to directly lead Luigi to there the specters' tails were... <em> perfect!</em></p><p> </p><p>Once in range, Luigi goes visible again to charge the strobulb to flash the two ghosts, but the two secret mission guys notice Luigi close by and one of them shoots a bullet point blank at the green plumber. Looks like he wasn't able to react in time and got hit in his right shoulder; making him drop the nozzle to the floor. "<em>OUCH!!</em>" He clutches his shoulder to hold in the bleeding from the wound. Wasn't the best move to go visible again in this kind of fight, as he goes invisible once more to not get hit again and barely misses another shot at him.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Luigi! Goodness gracious, please be careful! There's always another in the chamber, remember! </em> ) Boocille warned. Riiight, cardinal rule of guns: count one for the chamber cap! All the while, Hatty was still trying to stay distant, but started to creep closer now that neither could see. "<em>How could you let this happen?!</em>" "<em>Me?! YOU'RE the one causing issues!!</em>" Seeing the two distracted, Hatty knew he had to get their guns away.. but how?</p><p> </p><p>Instead of trying to stun the two ghosts, Luigi thinks of something and grabs hold of one of the small swords with his left hand; aiming at the two and throws it - slicing one of the barrels off one of the rifles to not let it work no more and knocking the other rifle out of one of the two ghosts' hands.</p><p>Enraged even more so, the two ghosts go invisible themselves to grab another weapon to help them defend themselves as well as attack the two heroes once they spot them. Boy, they're <em> really </em> out for blood...</p><p> </p><p>The two were <em> frothing </em> now, the two grabbing <em> far more </em> devastating weapons. One pulled forth a small snub auto rifle, able to shoot 6 bullets in one second. The magazine on that thing sounded like a bag of coins being rattled. The other grabbed a simpler submachine gun. While these were small weapons, the size wasn't the issue. The issue was that these things could easily kill a room full of people. "<em>NOW YOU BOTH ARE DEAD!</em>" Training the gun about madly, the two began to shoot, causing Hatty to dive back into hiding, managing to hide himself behind a safe that became filled with holes and dents.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily that Luigi was invisible and the bullets go right through him as if he wasn't there in the first place, though it's draining much of Boocille's energy while in this form. .oO( <em> I-I'm sorry th-that I'm using a lot of your e-energy... </em> ) He thought to Boocille with a concerned tone as he gets closer to the two ghosts quietly and slowly while more bullets keep going through him the green plumber.</p><p>Once in range, he uses his vacuum to suck up the weapons out of the secret mission guys' hands, then focuses on sucking all of the weapons in the room up into his vacuum chamber. Gee, it's like the poltergust G-00 has a miniature black hole in its chamber.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I-it's okay..! I need to make sure you're okay anyway..! I won't let you get hurt! </em> ) Boocille puffed out as Luigi made each weapon and box of bullets disappear. Hatty, however, had to stay hiding. He wasn't as lucky as to have such an ability, and a poltergust wasn't strong enough to redirect bullets unless their names were Bill. "<em>Dear God, Dear God help me..!!</em>" He prayed desperately, fearing that he would die like this.</p><p> </p><p>Just after the rain of bullets had stopped and all the other weapons had been sucked up, the two Secret mission guys were frantic and left without a weapon; since when they tried to grab another, it was no longer there. Not knowing what to do now to defend themselves, they both went into hiding just as Luigi became visible with a loud sigh. "<em>M-mama m-mia... Th-that w-was... T-too close...</em>" The green plumber mutters out as he clutches his hand on his chest, feeling his heart racing like he's been on a marathon for <em> several days!</em></p><p> </p><p>Boocille panted out, feeling her energy now cut in half. .oO( <em> I-I need a moment to rest... I sure hope there's no other weapons. </em> ) "<em>Mr. Luigiiii..!</em>" Hatty cried out, hidden against a corner, clutching his leg. "<em>Ouuh, God help me, it hurts so bad..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While in pain himself, Luigi comes over to Hatty to try to help him, but since it was too dark to see without the invisibility cloak on, he couldn't see the blood coming out from the captain's leg. Though, Hatty has the goggles on him and sees the bullet wound on Luigi's right shoulder. "<em>A-are you okay..?</em>" The green plumber asks gently while wincing in pain himself while trying to keep hold of the nozzle with the flashlight out, but not turned on.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Aahh..! </em> My leg, it's badly hit... your shoulder! God, you're hit, too! H-how are you feeling?" Hatty's voice was wavering from the cries of agony, feeling his leg throbbing like sin. "<em>I can't walk anymore, it hurts so bad..! It's burning, I think I'm going to be sick..!</em>" The knife? It was bad, for sure. But a <em> bullet </em> ? A searing, hot, penetrating cap of metal that <em> cooked </em> his skin and sizzled through his leg? That was a <em> new </em> level.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-I'm in p-pain as w-well...</em>" Luigi whimpers as he has a hard time keeping grips on the nozzle. "<em>G-glad that there's n-no more of those items that c-cause harm...</em>" While Luigi and Hatty are trying to tend to their painful injuries, they both hear rustling near them which made him turn to the source of the noise. "<em>Wh-what was that?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... oh no, are they coming back?! I-I don't know if there's more weapons or not?</em>" Hatty was <em> shaking </em> now, the burning pain causing the man to fall back down with a tremble. "<em>Oh God help us..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While struggling from the pain, Luigi gets up and goes after the source of the noise. "<em>S-stay here... I'll t-try to get them...</em>" With a soft whimper, he uses his darklight to find where the ghosts are hiding; which one of the two Secret mission guys were spotted after some rustling a bit of the wooden holders. Once he was out in the open, Luigi uses the strobulb to quickly flash and stun him. "<em>I-I'll get you now..!!</em>" Not hesitating to switch to the vacuum nozzle to snag his ghost tail and try to suck him up.</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi was pulling in one of the secret mission guys into his poltergust, he was beginning to feel awfully dizzy from the blood loss from his leg. Clutching the wound, he didn't even think to turn <em> his </em> black light onto the specter approaching behind him. A tight squeeze around his neck pulled him close, an arm locking about him with a glimmer of a blade pointed at his neck. With his partner having struggled weakly before being yanked into the vacuum. Angered at his partner being snagged up, this disgraced agent held the bleeding man and pointed the knife to his veins.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Don't make another move, you greasy Guido!! Or the captain's veins will spew all over the floor!!</em>" "Mr. Luigi..!!" Hatty gasped out, the knife not moving from his neck. "<em>Shut up, you sniveling squirt!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Hatty's plea for help and trying to go over to help, "<em>H-Hatty!!</em>" Luigi immediately froze after the other Secret Mission guy had threatened the captain's life if ever moved a <em> centimeter </em> . With a soft gulp, he doesn't know what to do and is scared for Hatty's life hanging in the balance with the blade pressing against his throat. Not knowing what to do, .oO( <em> Oh no... H-Hatty's in d-danger, and I-I can't move w-without that g-ghost h-hurting him... Wh-what should I-I do..? </em> ) He thought, as the green plumber needs to think of a plan and <em> fast </em>, before either the ghost slices his neck open or his bleeding from his leg does him in.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You caused this, your green clad idiot! But you made one fatal mistake: you left your wounded comrade off to the side and let him fall into my arms! Now, you're going to sit there and watch!</em>" Boocille saw this and grew... <em> angry </em> . Puffing up, she swelled more... and more... and more, causing a large glow to shine in Luigi's chest. "<em>... you'll get to watch your precious friend's life end by my--</em>" Before he could even finish, a small spectral orb was <em> fired </em> out from Luigi's very soul, knocking the knife away from the other's hand. Oh! She must've sacrificed a bit of her own physical form and used it as a cannon bolt!</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt Boocille growing within, causing his chest to shine a little bit through his clothing and clutches his chest with his hand in slight pain. Though, once the spectral orb released <em> deep </em> within his soul and out his chest; his reaction of his body pulled from the launch and uncovered his chest for it to fly out and knock the knife out of the other Secret Mission guy's hand.</p><p>Once the knife was knocked out the ghosts' hand, Hatty was free to get away from the ghost, though Luigi recovers from the spectral launch and chases after the ghost. "<em>G-get back here!!</em>" The green plumber yells out as his courage spikes and angry that the ghost pulled that stunt on his new friend.</p><p> </p><p>Managing to get free, Hatty tried to catch up with Luigi on sucking up the last of the two, but Luigi was definitely faster with an uninjured leg. "<em>No, no no! Don't you dare!</em>" Too late- his tail was snagged by the brave, green plumber, causing him to be drawn in further. "<em>I HOPE LORD MAYA PUTS YOU ALL ON THE COALS!</em>" With a cymbal, the specter was drawn into the poltergust.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty, panting and sweating from panic, looked up to Luigi. "I... I didn't know you could do <em> that </em> !" Neither did <em> he!</em> Boocille was panting, having depleted physical <em> mass </em> in order to project it into a ball. .oO( <em> Sorry about that... I had to get that knife out of his hand before that crazed buffoon hurt anyone! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I... I didn't know I c-could do that either...</em>" He replies to Hatty as he tries to help Hatty up with his uninjured arm. But, hearing Boocille painting, he felt awful about her using her abilities to help both of them out and placed his hand on his chest. .oO( <em> I-I'm sorry that you k-keep using your energy to help us, but th-thank you... </em> ) He profusely thanked Boocille, but also apologizes a lot for her using her energy to help them; since he cares about her as well.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-you need it... I swore to keep you safe, and this is me keeping that promise. You're my friend, and I'd do anything to keep you safe. </em> ) Being hoisted up carefully, Hatty wobbled on his other leg, his injury having soaked his pant leg a deep tinge of red with that sticky, metallic slickness clotting the once proud fabric. "<em>I... I honestly thought I... I was going to die under bullet fodder...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>S-so did I...</em>" Sighing heavily, he takes his damaged cap off and wipes the sweat off his forehead. "<em>C-come on, we need t-to get back to the docs...</em>" Luigi whimpers as he helps Hatty along, while in pain as well from his shoulder bleeding and also starting to feel the effects of blood loss.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up to the other's hat, he was <em> shocked </em> that the man was still <em> walking!</em> That was the luck of the draw, for sure... "<em>I... gosh, Luigi, I'm sorry that you nearly caught lead like that! ... suppose I'm glad I got hit and not you... h-hehe...</em>" Oh boy, someone sounded woozy.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi chuckles with a soft smile, "W-well... I-I'm glad y-you helped me as well, a-as well B-Boocille and I helped you..." With a smile, they both keep going after the gates lifted up to get out of the weapons closet and walk down the hallways to get back to the loading docks while still in pain. Though, what they didn't know is that, the two heroes are leaving a tiny bit of a blood trail... But the two decided to use the pixelator television to transport back to Gadd's lab instead of going back the long way - which made the blood trail stop at one of the pixelator televisions.</p><p> </p><p>As the two head out of the weapons closet and walk down the hallways after the spectral gates are lifted, the mysterious ghost keeps tabs on the two heroes; out of sight and in the darkness so he doesn't get spotted and notices the small blood trail. With a smirk, the ghost flies away though the walls as he goes to set up the next trap somewhere else on the ship.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Cerbergiest awakens</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While that smirking little fiend set up the following trap for the brave duo, they arrived back within the safety of the docks with the medics immediately seeing to their wounds. They were shocked that ghosts could use <em> guns </em> to begin with! Though, they were more shocked with how Luigi's hat looked and the two just had <em> one </em> extra hole put into each. "You two have no idea how <em> lucky </em> you are."</p><p> </p><p>Hatty groaned, knowing he had to face <em> another </em> round of nearly barbaric medicine in order to be healed... though that <em> may </em> not be the case. Luigi's wound would be seen too easily with just some stitch work and a bandage, though Hatty's <em> could </em> utilize something more to help heal the scarified wound.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi whimpers as the pain from his wound on his shoulder is getting worse, as if the bullet is still in his shoulder. "<em>Th-thanks to Boocille... Sh-she helped us survive th-that s-scary closet...</em>" Luigi kept holding his wound as much as he could, though the two docs would need to look at the wound, so they had-to cut off a little bit of his green shirt in order to help clean the wound and try to help numb the local area.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, the bullet wasn't in place, as to ensure that there were no fragments of bullet left in him or that any debris that could cause an infection. Gently irrigating the now numbed wound; though, Hatty was greeted to something a bit different.</p><p> </p><p>"Dr. Gadd worked on something experimental... for wounds such as these." Pulling up what looked like a ghostly thread, Dorchester gently unwound it and began to stitch Hatty up. "He managed to siphon a bit of the spectral machinery's effect with reforming the body... this stitching should help wounds heal faster. It's a small amount, yet, since this is the prototype." "<em>Just make the burning stop, please... it hurts so much..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While Kev was working on Luigi and hissing at the pain from the doc pulling the bullet out and trying to not move when Kev was patching him up, the plumber was listening in to what Gadd was doing in his lab and looked back to the captain and Dorchester. "H-he is?" Luigi was grateful that Gadd is willing to help just as much to not only to help the plumber and the captain out, but also the two docs in case if the two heroes got badly injured.</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry that we couldn't use this thread on both of you. In the event if it's a flop, we can't have <em> two </em> incapacitated people going back out there." However, it didn't seem like a flop... far from it! Hatty's wound swiftly swelled, deswelled, and became far less red. It seemed to close faster, scabbing, and was no longer bleeding. It wasn't too attractive looking, but healed <em> very </em> quickly! "... it... it doesn't hurt anymore..!"</p><p> </p><p>From what Luigi hears, it gives a smile to his wholesome face after knowing that it's actually working. "Th-thank goodness it's w-working..." With a sigh of relief, he goes back to focusing on Kev and his own wound... Though with it numb, he couldn't feel the surgical needle sewing his wound up with the same special, spectral thread. In no time, the wound began to heal up quickly than normal and felt a whole lot better.</p><p> </p><p>Once the two were stitched up, they were immediately given sugar water to hydrate them and feed their body cells due to the depleted blood in their bodies. Blood and plasma loss was serious, especially where in a place, there was <em> no </em> way to transfuse or find a safe donor.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily Luigi still was full from eating a lot from earlier, but that'll take a while for the energy to go through as the green plumber happily takes the sugar water anyway and drinks it up. It was not the greatest taste, since sugar itself without any kind of other flavor doesn't taste that great, but in order to heal, he needed to drink it all up. "Blah! Tastes awful..." Luigi complained a bit, but at least he finished the sugar water before handing the cup back to Kev. "Th-thank you." The green plumber smiles as he hops off the crate.</p><p> </p><p>"Sadly, we don't have much... we need to ration what produce we have for ingredients, which already isn't much. We need to make sure you're hydrated and can have energy for your cells due to losing blood." Hatty grimaced at the terribly sweet elixir that helped him get the proper hydration necessary. "Ugh... if it'll keep us alive, I'll drink it down."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, especially when n-needing to help keep Boocille's energy up too." Luigi sighs, as he feels the boo's energy is regaining within, as he walks over to Hatty and stands close by. "F-feeling better?" The green stache asks as he grabs his nozzle, which he's able to grip just as he was able to before he got hit from that bullet.</p><p> </p><p>"Ahh... yeah, quite a bit, in fact. It doesn't burn or hurt as much. Just stings a little." "Doc said it isn't <em> perfect</em>, but Gadd's working on it, so we might have a better product come the next time you guys come back down here. Just be sure to not rip the stitching, he said, or the wound can totally reopen."</p><p> </p><p>Looking up to Dorchester, Luigi nods to him as he tries to cover the wound up with his torn up green shirt, but he might have-to deal with it, or go to a private area to turn the shirt around... Either way, both of them are ready to go back out. "Come on, let's-a go!" Grabbing Hatty's hand, he heads to Gadd's lab to talk to the professor.</p><p>Gadd turns around to face both Hatty and Luigi once he hears the two come in, happy to at least take a break for a bit. "Ahh; looks like the thread is helping quite a bit!" The professor mentions after seeing the wounds heal up nicely. "G-got anything new, Professor?" Luigi asks while one of the toads are happily lounging around in the lab and waves to the two heroes. "Hmm..." Gadd notices that Hatty was still wearing the night vision goggles on his face, and gets an idea with it. "Looks like that part on your head will help <em> immensely!</em>" He points out to Hatty, as he gets off the chair and comes over to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh! Right..." Hatty pulled the goggles off, having completely neglected the fact that those specs were still attached. "I forgot I was even <em> wearing </em> these things... I guess when you're more focused on not bleeding out, the little details become skewed beneath more pressing matters. These are from the two blokes we captured that nearly put bullets in <em> every square inch </em> of us. It was <em> horrible</em>, but thanks to Luigi- yet again- I'm still alive."</p><p> </p><p>Gadd laughs a bit after taking the night vision goggles from Hatty and goes back to his chair to work on the goggles. "Well, at least both of you are okay, and with more further upgrades, we'll be able to catch those ghosts easier and easier down the line~" The professor informs as Luigi empties out his vacuum chamber first; but both he and Hatty wonders if what Gadd was doing for Brianne earlier was finished.</p><p>But, the answer was presented to them, as both Secret Mission guys get launched out of the extractor, in their original forms. Brianne must be wandering around in the loading docks somewhere.</p><p> </p><p>The two being spat out, they were dazed, stumbling about and staring blankly while their vision and senses returned. Both of them looked to Hatty and Luigi, first with initial confusion... then with <em> shaking </em> horror at realizing just what happened before. Coming to the sobering reality that they'd <em> both </em> shot at not only two innocent souls, but someone who was protecting their captain and the <em> man himself</em>, the two immediately dropped to their knees in front of the two and bowed in obvious shame. "<em>We're so sorry, you two! Captain, we're so sorry that we attacked you..!!</em>" "<em>We're so sorry for causing so much trouble, captain! I know it isn't enough to undo what we did, but please, we weren't ourselves..! If we had control, we wouldn't have done something like that!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Shocked at this, Hatty pulled the two up out of the dirt and brushed it off with his knuckles. "Oh, come now! I know you two weren't the initial driving force of this... you two should know <em> just </em> what happened, you'll feel better when you realize that you were tied to diabolical strings."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, and we helped you c-come back to life!" Luigi gives a thumbs up as he walks over to Hatty and taps on his poltergust; silently trying to remind him of Maggie being in his and goes to empty his. Once close to the two Secret Mission guys, the two notice how small Luigi really was, and definitely saw the patched up wound on his right shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh... oh, lord, we hit you <em> too?!</em> Ah, Mr... ah, what is it..?" "Luigi." Hatty spoke as he brought his gust over to Gadd and had it emptied out to get Maggie freed. "Mr. Luigi, please accept our apologies! We're so very, very sorry for what we did..!"</p><p> </p><p>"N-no worries, we know th-that you weren't yourself." Luigi laughs a bit as he rubs the back of his head. Though, The green stache points out the other crew mates and the toads in the loading docks, "W-we're here to get e-everyone back to the way it was before." He said to the Secret Mission guys, just as Maggie gets spat out from the extractor as well after Hatty unloaded from his poltergust.</p><p> </p><p>Maggie came out and... seemed a bit groggy. Disorganized, shaking... oh lord, Maggie was cold as <em> ice!</em> The doctors saw this and swiftly wrapped them up in blankets. "Guess... that's from that cold that surrounded them!" Hatty saw just how blue the poor fella was. It would be a while before they were coherent once more.</p><p> </p><p>After Maggie had been taken away with Dorchester and Kev, Gadd was finished on getting the part to upgrade onto just one of the poltergusts, but decided to put it in Hatty's. "Come, I'll need to install this part in your poltergust." The professor asks for Hatty's poltergust 5000 to install the part he harvested from the night vision goggles while holding the part in his hand. Luigi looks back at the part, noticing it was somewhat like the darklight bulb in his hand. "I-is it an upgrade for H-Hatty's poltergust?" The green-clothed lad questions. "Of course! Since the darklight on the poltergust 5000 was a prototype, this one can help have the darklight last indefinitely; just like yours." Gadd informs as he takes the nozzle, unscrews it and sets the prototype darklight bulb aside before screwing the new one on.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, wowie..! T-thank you, Dr. Gadd! It means a lot to have this upgrade... it'll keep us especially safe from whatever nasties might be lurking around unseen. You have no idea how hard it was without that black light to help with those agents able to see everything, but us not being able to see much else."</p><p> </p><p>"No problem, Mr. Hatty!" Once he screwed in the new darklight bulb, Gadd gave the nozzle back to Hatty. "Anyway, both of you must be going, no? I'll help you get back to where you were before." The professor pushes the button on his chair, activating the pixelator television to send both Luigi and Hatty through it. Though, Luigi squeaks and covers his eyes with his hat as both the captain and the green plumber to get transferred back to where they used it before.</p><p>After Luigi face plants onto the floor once both had reformed back to their non-pixelated forms from the pixelator camera, he gets up and shakes his head as he helps Hatty up from off the floor. "C-come on, let's-a go!" After helping Hatty up, they both head out to continue on their adventure to find their crew mates and loved ones.</p><p> </p><p>Being teleported away with the pixelator, Hatty landed on his butt with a slight bounce before pulling himself back up. "Let's get the rest of our friends and family! Adventure awaits!"</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>During that time, King Boo and Maya notices the two heroes traveling through the pixelator and leave the room they were just in. "<em>Hmm...</em>" Maya looks into the television a little closely though the camera the heroes just transferred from and noticed little red droplets on the floor from earlier when the two used the pixelator television. "<em>This can be interesting...</em>" Maya taps onto the television to increase the visuals to the droplets on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Leaning in closer, King Boo smirked, his tongue lulling free. "<em>Hmm, blood..~ seems our little ghastly peons have been drawing blood. They may be able to heal themselves, but the wounds that are to come won't be as easily staunched. These little cretins think themselves as heroes, but any tragic hero will meet his end soon enough, and I will look forward to hearing the clicking of their bones within the teeth of a grinder.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hearing their screams of pain with their bones breaking is so delightful!</em>" Maya cackles a bit, but he gets an idea right after. Scratching his chin a bit, Maya looks back at the corrupted Polterpup and floats over to the spectral pooch. "<em>With blood on the floor at least, Luigi's mut can help catch that scent and help find their hiding spot~ Heh heh~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ooh, simply delightful! A true bloodhound... and perhaps, with a little tinkering, this little pup could be perfect.</em>" Pulling his crown off, King Boo pulled something out from beneath. A small, black, ghostly doggy biscuit that he waved to the pup while recrowning himself. "<em>Come here, puppy puppy puppy..~ come get the treat~! It's a special one, just for you!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The spectral pooch barks happily with the treat being in front of him, as Maya releases Polterpup from the spectral cage. "<em>It is time for you to hunt down your so-called 'friend'...</em>" Maya sneers, as Polterpup comes over to King Boo and yips at the doggy biscuit, anxious to have it!</p><p> </p><p>Tossing the treat to the pup, King Boo thrilled at seeing the pup scarf it down. It was no simple treat, but something conceived from his darkest ideas. It was a Cerberus cookie: something that would give Polterpup <em> greater </em> power and abilities. "<em>You're no longer Polterpup... you're now Cerbergiest. It's only a matter of time now before your true powers shine through..~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Polterpup felt the instantaneous transformation mentally - thinking of dark and evil thoughts - though his physical form wasn't changed, yet... In the pup's mind, he felt his name change like he's being <em> deeply </em> hypnotized. Now it's Cerbergiest, the ghostly pooch sits and waits for command as Maya floats back to the pixelator television. "<em>What a good dog~</em>" Maya chuckles, as he pets Cerbergiest. "<em>Now, go and hunt your precious friends down!</em>" Maya commands as he pulls the lever to send the ghost pooch through the pixelator to where the two heroes last used the teleporting devices. "<em>Heh heh~ It's only a matter of time now, before their secret hiding spot is located...</em>" The demon lord rubs his hands together after deactivating the pixelator.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Only a matter of time until those precious scientists' brains are smeared all over the walls like graffiti on a derelict castle wall! He'll be gone, we'll return our army to it's proper glory, and we shall rule the world... kingdoms will fall, and nothing will ever stand in our way again. No more precious little heroes, thinking that they could rip success from under us! No more! </em> <b> <em>No more imprisonment, no more horrific isolation or terrible loneliness!! No more of being trapped in a machine for nearly ten years in the maddening silence...</em> </b> <em> and I'll finally turn the turntables on that doctor when he's locked in a tiny box where nothing but the voices in his mind will be the only ones to bring him comfort.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The two ghost kings laugh maniacally as they had released Cerbergiest into the wild on the ship. It's just a waiting game now... Once Cerbergiest had landed on the other side of the teleportation device, the ghost pooch sniffs around and picks up the scent of the two heroes and growls. The ghost dog follows the scent trail that was recent enough that it was strong, and quickly tries to follow the two heroes; though quietly and at a distance in hopes for the two to not spot the dog. </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>With the next key in tow, Luigi and Hatty continue on to their next destination to find more of the crew mates. "I hope th-that w-we find them as fast as w-we can..." Luigi nervously says to Hatty while holding the nozzle tightly in his hands while going down one of the many branching hallways.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty kept his flashlight focused, looking about vigilantly for any signs of hostile life... or in this case, unlife. "Keep your eyes up to the ceiling, those ghosts tend to <em> drop in </em> unannounced." Freezing up suddenly, Hatty could hear the howling echoing from the ship. "... shoot, you never get used to the ghostly howls, do you?"</p><p> </p><p>That <em> howl </em> ... It sounded so familiar, yet it wasn't the same; though that howl made Luigi jump and felt scared, having his body quiver in fear. "<em>N-no... I-I never get used-to that s-sound...</em>" Even while scared, he tried to keep going as much as he could; until he heard another howl- that made him run like the dickens since it was closer than before! Of course, Hatty didn't hesitate to follow suit and run away as fast as they could.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing alongside Luigi at seeing him <em> rush </em> like he was on fire, hoofing it down the creaking hallway. "<em>W-what could be howling like that? It sounds like a werewolf..! T-there aren't werewolf ghosts, are there?</em>" Best to find a place to duck into before they found out the hard way!</p><p> </p><p>Once they get down one of the hallways, the two quickly jump into an opened door and close it behind themselves, hoping that the howling noise has stopped following them. Though while in the pitch blackness of the room they're in, Luigi couldn't help but quiver, unknowingly making a little bit of noise while covering his mouth to try not to make a <em> peep</em>. .oO( <em> Please please please... Hope th-that howl w-would go away... </em> ) He thought to himself, though Boocille heard what he was thinking.</p><p> </p><p>Trying to secure Luigi, Hatty held onto this poltergust's tank to avoid making any noise. It wasn't the <em> noise </em> they should worry about... their <em> scent </em> was telltale. Another howl, much louder this time, and with an awful cold in the air. It wasn't a nice cold, more of an <em> impending doom </em> chill. Hatty shuddered at the feeling before the sound of footsteps grew louder outside. Four, each in succession to the other, like a dog.</p><p> </p><p>Thanks to Hatty holding onto his poltergust chamber, the noise stopped, but with the sound of footsteps coming closer and <em> closer </em> to their location... It made the two even <em> more </em> frightened and having Luigi softly whimpering from his vocal cords doesn't help much in keeping quiet. They hope and pray that whatever is coming to them, doesn't find them... But what they didn't know is that, <em> this </em> dog, can track them down by scent alone and can go through walls!</p><p> </p><p>After a tense moment of silence, there may have been the glimmer of hope that all was well... but all was <em> not </em> . Suddenly, the former Polterpup turned Cerbergiest leaped through the walls. The usually white sheen of his body was an inky black with sharp, snaggly teeth and angry eyes that stared dead at the two. "<em>Woah, it's Polterpup!!</em>" Hatty cried out, seeing this horrific parody of the ghostly hound.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Polterpup not himself, Luigi scoots back to Hatty even closer to him. "<em>N-no... P-Polterpup...</em>" The green plumber felt sad for what they did to him, but felt scared to even come close to the spectral pooch gone <em> dark and evil</em>... Luigi doesn't know what to do to help him, since he doesn't have any extra golden bones on him in hopes of distracting the pooch. "<em>Wh-what have th-they done t-to you..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the two, the pup's maw snarled and he began to shake. His body began to morph, becoming larger. His paws widened with large claws digging into the wood now, with two more heads sprouting, giving him a <em> truly </em> nightmarish appearance. Gasping at this, Hatty nearly doubled over at the deafening howl. "<em>Luigi, run!! Run like Hell!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the new form of his former beloved pup, he jumps up and shivers in fear. "<em>N-not without you..!</em>" Luigi grabs the back of Hatty's coat and slams the door open, high-tailing away from the newly formed evil ghost dog. The two need to find a way to distract the dog and lose their trail and <em> fast </em> before the three-headed ghost dog chases after them again. "<em>W-we n-need to g-get it t-to lose our t-trail, before it c-can catch us a-again!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As they ran, Cerbergiest was hot on their trail, foaming at the mouth and snapping its jaws. Hatty, thinking fast, pushed Luigi down a direction. "<em>This way!</em>" Rushing down a hallway, he remembered that there was a small closet nearby that had something in it... hurrying inside with Luigi, he pulled something up. Wooden floor cleaner? Opening it up, Hatty poured it across his clothes and did the same to Luigi. "<em>This will cover our scent. Stay quiet- we might've lost him...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Smelling the wood floor cleaner made them smell like wood, but the odor was a little too strong and tries to hold back his sneeze to try to keep quiet- though it was more difficult to do when his fear is making him quiver and making a little bit of noise like last time. .oO( <em> Oh n-no... </em> )</p><p>While the two try to keep quiet, they hear Cerbergiest coming closer as it tries to sniff their scent, but loses it as it gets to the small closet door. The evil ghost dog keeps going to try to find the scent again, wondering where the two heroes have gone to.</p><p> </p><p>After hearing the sneeze, the large hound let out another thunderclap howl, hoping that it could rouse a noise. ... nothing. Storming off, it galloped down the hall, shaking the ship and was soon far enough for the two to sneak out from their hiding spot. "<em>... h-holy guacamole.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once they hear the ghostly pooch run off, Luigi slowly exits the small closet while feeling frightened from his own Polterpup turned against them in the most sinister way. "<em>M-my poor Polterpup...</em>" The green stache whines quietly, having tears shed and wipes them off with his arm.</p><p> </p><p>"... I can't believe it. They would use an <em> innocent puppy </em> against us? This is no fun and games, they're really trying to grab the roots at any twist and turn that they can! Those bastards... we'll have to let Gadd know about this when we can. Maybe he could help. For now, let's find the next key and try to lay low... if he comes back, he can <em> maul </em> us like rabbits."</p><p> </p><p>Speaking of the devil, Luigi felt the buzz and heard the ring of his GameBoo Advance SP from his pocket, took it out of his pocket and answered the call. "<em> H-hello..? </em> " Luigi spoke in a scared tone, which Gadd immediately noticed. "<em>Luigi! Are you okay? Did something happen?</em>" Gadd questions, since the GPS was warning about danger and how fast the two were going just a minute ago.</p><p> </p><p>Stepping into frame, Hatty was equally as spooked. "<em>Yes, something did happen. It's Polterpup... King Boo and Maya turned him into a beast! It's terrible... they turned him into a Cerberus, I kid you not! I don't know what we're going to do, he's been completely turned against us..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods, with a quiet whimper and worries for his own ghost pooch. "<em>Y-yeah... My poor pooch had turned e-evil...</em>" "<em>Oh no no no no, this cannot do!</em>" Gadd replies, "<em>Keep a low profile and make sure you don't get caught from him! Since he can pick your scents, don't try to come back here by foot- we don't need him to track your scents!</em>" Luigi nods from Gadd's advice, "<em>I'll try to work on making a doggie repellent for now, though I know that Anubis won't like it, but we need to keep both of you safe!</em>" The professor continues, "<em>Be careful out there!</em>" Gad finished off before hanging up and the green plumber puts the GameBoo Advance SP away. "<em>I-I hope he can make th-that and soon... Before Polterpup spots us a-again...</em>" Luigi looks up to Hatty with worry.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty nodded, feeling his throat tightening at the prospect of being caught by that three-headed fiend once their friend. "<em>W-we should figure out where this key goes...</em>" Hatty held up that little key. It was unusual, being bronze instead. The dull glistering revealed to have a number on it, but it was scratched down and heavily faded with abuse and time. "<em>I can't read what it says, but it feels... odd.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Luigi gently takes the key as he gets the device out again to help track of where the key actually goes. "M-maybe this would help us?" The green plumber asks, as he sets the key down on the device to scan it and point to where the key goes to open a certain door.</p><p> </p><p>After a scanning of the key, it directed them down to a part of the ship that seemed to have a small theater there. What looked like a stage and empty orchestra pit. "Oh, the show room! Oh, lord... I remember. So many laughs were had there. It... used to be such a magical place."</p><p> </p><p>"R-really?" Luigi looks up to Hatty, curious of how it could be a magical place as he puts the device away while holding the key in his hand. "Well, let's-a go!" His cheery mood is like an on-off switch, though in a scary place like <em> this</em>, it's mostly off. Though, Luigi's cautious and timid nature overrides the cheery mood and keeps his flashlight on in front of him in hopes to protect himself a bit.</p><p> </p><p>Heading down to this stage, the door was decorated at the frame with ribbon-like etched wood, burned designs and above hung the comedy and tragedy masks. The double doors were locked with an unusual mechanism, that which the key fit perfectly. Opening the door, the cobwebs behind the door strung thick, audibly breaking as the light shone inside.</p><p> </p><p>Instruments: abandoned, faded and splintered, were all scattered across the floor and within the orchestra pit. Masks, costumes and puppets were rotting, colors washed away and looking very old yet adored by many. Hatty's eyes watered slightly, looking at everything, hearing the laughter of the comedies and whimpers from the dramas acted out on stage. The memories were so bittersweet, making his heart feel heavy in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing how bad the small theater has become, Luigi frowns as he walks inside and tries to avoid the instruments that's on the floor. "G-gee... Looks like this p-place hasn't been used... In s-so long..." With this amount of deterioration, any wrong step can cause <em> disaster</em>, especially alerting any kind of ghosts around... Or in <em> hiding</em>.</p><p>While Hatty and Luigi explore the small theater slowly and cautiously, a ghost of one of the crew mates was hiding within one of the instruments close by; though once the two come across the instrument they come across, the ghost quietly comes out and grabs hold of Hatty's leg for a second before hiding back within the instrument again.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>AAH!</em>" Feeling his leg being pulled out from under him, he fell forward directly into a ring of hung coats. A plume of dust caked the poor man as he came up, coughing and sneezing with a powdery old woman's wig and boa scarf tangled about his head. "<em>Kff- kff kff, YAACHOO! Aah... you can't be serious..!</em>" Pulling the dusty wig off, he wiped his face and spat out the dust. "I think I might've gotten caught on a chair..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi jumps from Hatty's yelp, making him turn around and having the wig on his head and making him snicker a bit. All the thick dust particles float around the room, making the flashlights pick up the little particles easily. With all the dust pluming around, Luigi has a sneezing fit, and sneezes quite a few times as he tries to wave the dust away from his face. "<em>Ugh, this dust is too thick..!</em>" He mentions while coughing as well.</p><p>Though, as they continue on, the same ghost comes out from hiding for a brief moment and yanks on Hatty's pant leg once more, then hides again, with a much quiet snicker to go along with it.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling <em> another </em> yanking at his pant leg, it caused the captain to scurry right out of the wig and boa and stand up. Swishing around his flashlight, he looked about for whomever those rabble rousers were, squinting through the cloud of allergens before becoming too caught up with sneezing to focus. Turning on the poltergust, he sucked up a majority of the dust in the air before itching his eyes. "<em>Darnit!</em> Something's messing with me here..! You'll not make an ass out of me!"</p><p> </p><p>With the soft snicker echoing through the small theater, Luigi felt a presence around as he tries to vacuum up all of the dust and small debris laying all about, to help get them to see better and not sneeze and cough. "C-come out, wh-where ever you are..!!" Luigi kept on sneezing, since the allergies are kicking in in full force... Though the allergies only affect the sensitivity of his big nose.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty turned, hearing a rattling in a costume box. Lightly nudging Luigi's shoulder, he pointed over and turned on his flashlight. Approaching the box filled with old scarves and puppet parts, Hatty slowly opened the vessel only to be greeted by a ghost that <em> flew </em> out with a loud wail of excitation.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi jumps and yelps out as he sees the ghost fly out with the old scarves covering it with a happy laughter. "<em>He he! It's so much fun hiding and playing pranks!</em>" The ghost throws the scarves up in the air, showing himself of who it really was- the ghost of Secret Sam! The ghostly crew mate didn't hesitate to go invisible and back into hiding into one of the instruments on the floor.</p><p>Luigi sees the ghost go invisible and goes into hiding again, just as the spectral gates close down onto the doors. "<em>G-gee, th-this one l-likes to mess around...</em>" The green plumber gulps as he turns on the darklight to try to spot the ghost of where he hid.</p><p> </p><p>"Wh... that was Secret Sam! I... ah... I-I'm mostly surprised that what he's doing hasn't <em> yet </em> resulted in crippling pain." Hatty turned on his own darklight, panning it about frantically, glancing down to the wound still on his leg that has the stitches holding it together. "<em>Wheeeere did he go..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I... I don't know...</em>" Luigi whimpers quietly, looking around and separating from Hatty a bit in hopes to spot the ghost a little more effectively. Though as the two separate for a little bit, Secret Sam likes to play hide and seek, as he grabs something blunt and throws it at the captain when he least expects it.</p><p> </p><p>That blunt thing happened to be a rather well petrified piece of puppet foam that beamed off Hatty's head and sent him to his knees, seeing tweety birds. Shaking his head, he grumbled, rubbing the bump. "<em>I don't remember him being such a jerk..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Hatty getting knocked on the head, Luigi comes rushing over to help him. "<em>A-are you okay..?</em>" He tries to help the captain onto his feet and pats his back. "<em>Come on... W-we need to catch him b-before he th-throws anything else...</em>" After helping Hatty up, Luigi looks around with the darklight, spotting the ghostly essence trail of Secret Sam of where he's hiding. Instead of blurting out himself saying he found the ghost, the green stache sneaks closer to the ghost's hiding spot while trying to not make a sound.</p><p> </p><p>After clearing the stars from his head, Hatty followed along with Luigi, getting his poltergust ready on the sucking motion. He was <em> ready </em> to catch this one, feeling more like this was a far more personal attack than a mere spectral assault considering the usual.</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi activates his plunger and aims it at the spot where Secret Sam is hiding, the Italian plumber counts to three, then launches the plunger at the broken instrument, jostling it a bit for Secret Sam to fly out of it. With a snicker, he tries to get away, but Hatty has the strobulb ready to go and releases its charge, stunning the poor ghost. "<em>ACK!!</em>" After getting stunned, one of the two heroes snag onto his ghost tail and try to vacuum him up. "<em>NOOO!! LET GOO!!</em>" Secret Sam tries to fly away, but the strength of the vacuum was too strong.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty kept his vacuum nozzle trained onto Secret Sam, his face twisted in a mix of determination and sadness. "<em>I'm so sorry, my friend..! I don't have a choice!</em>" With that, he pulled himself around and brought Sam to the ground, weakening him and sucked him into the Poltergust. Feeling him hitting at the inside of the device, the captain sighed out, rubbing at his forehead. "<em>I'm sorry, friend, but this is what I had to do.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After Secret Sam had been vacuumed up into Hatty's poltergust 5000, the ghostly crew mate felt sad that he was captured, though there was no new key that Secret Sam had; but they noticed a small, fancy-looking chest that appeared instead nearby and the lights came on. "H-hey look, a chest!" Luigi mentions as he walks over to the glittering chest. "I-I wonder what's in it..." He wonders as he goes to open it... But it was locked! Crap...</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the chest, Hatty thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Ah! I remember that chest! That's the women's wigs chest... I think I remember where the key is! It's in the women's powder room! ... oh lord, I hope there isn't anyone in there." Hatty's cheeks turn a bit pink. "I don't want to see a ghost in a brassiere..."</p><p> </p><p>Now that Hatty had mentioned it, a boo shows up while inside and actually wearing the brassiere! Oh boy. "<em>Hehehe! I'm Chlaraboo! Don't you like my </em> <b> <em>look</em></b><em>?</em>" The boo then goes to scare Hatty while throwing the bra at him without warning. Luckily boos don't have what bras usually cover on women as the boo goes invisible.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, however, Hatty <em> instinctively </em> covered his eyes as the bra simply landed on his head as he whined out. "<em>Good grief, no!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While the boo was invisible, it spins fast and comes barreling towards him, though the fog on the floor is a good indicator where the boo is... If Hatty reacts in time with the darklight. While Hatty's eyes were covered, Luigi comes into the dresser room and notices what's going on. "<em>Oh-oh no...</em>" The green plumber doesn't hesitate to shine the darklight when the captain was oblivious to his surroundings. "<em>L-look out!</em>" Luigi warns loudly just as he wasn't able to get the boo in time before it collides with Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>Peeking back out when the boo came charging again, Hatty squeaked out and hastily pulled out the flashlight. He fumbled, flashing the light a bit <em> too </em> brightly, accidentally blinding <em> everybody</em>. "<em>Aahh, I can't see! Can't see!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi getting blinded and dizzy from Hatty's strobulb... Whoops, wrong light! The boo took that advantage and struck Luigi instead, knocking him to the floor. "<em>OOF!</em>" After being knocked to the floor, the green stache dizzy state goes away and shakes his head as he gets up again. "Owie..." Looking around, he felt so scared- but he kept his darklight on in hopes to spot the boo. "<em>H-Hatty... U-use your d-darklight..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Blinking as the spots swirled in his vision, Hatty turned his light onto the boo-seeking darklight and spotted the specter. "<em>I see you!</em>" Turning the vacuum on, he hoped to ensnare the bust-up Boo, snarling in humiliation that the other tried to use his modesty as a weapon against him!</p><p> </p><p>The darklight made the boo try to cover its face while it's being shined on from the device and becomes more visible until it becomes opaque and gets dizzy; making it vulnerable to their poltergusts. "G-got you now!!" While feeling timid, Luigi charges after the boo and grabs hold of its tongue with the vacuum nozzle, slamming it several times before he loses the grip and pops out, sending it flying a bit away from the two.</p><p> </p><p>As the underwear clad Boo tried to restart her jostled systems, Hatty charged over and turned the suction up on high. "<em>How dare you mess with my emotions, you hussy!</em>" Scowling, he managed to catch her tail and dragged her back. "<em>You'll not get away to cackle amongst your cohorts!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EEK!!</em>" Being dragged back from her tail, the boo quickly grabs one of the bras and throws it at Hatty to make him let go of her; sending her flying a little farther away and bouncing off walls a bit before shaking her head and going invisible once more. "<em>Come and get me!!</em>" The boo cackles once more as she goes in for another attack to the two.. Though this time, she uses her tongue to wrap around Luigi's neck; which surprises him and feels like he was choking from <em> nothing</em>. "<em>Achkk.. H-help...!</em>" The green stache struggles to grab the boo's tongue, but his hands just go through her invisible tongue.</p><p> </p><p>After taking the bra to the face once more and stumbling back, Hatty saw his friend in absolute peril! Scowling at this <em> impotence</em>, something in him <em> snapped</em>. From a friendly and more calm man to... something more of a grizzled, jaded captain. "<em>THAT'S IT, YOU VILE VIXEN OF HELL!!</em>" Hatty trained his flashlight hard onto the ghost, almost <em> cruelly </em> scorching her eyes with the vibrant light. "<em>God's wrath will take a back seat to what </em> <b> <em>I'm</em> </b> <em> about to do to you!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Hatty's darklight shining upon the boo, she went opaque once again, making her get dizzy and let go of Luigi, as the green plumber coughs and gasps for air; making him fall onto his knees and hold his throat. While the boo is vulnerable, Hatty was able to snatch her tongue and slam her multiple times before being vacuumed up into the chamber. "<em>Uhhgg... Th-thank you, H-Hatty...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Holding his hand down to Luigi, Hatty pulled the man up. Woah, something about him seemed.. different. His off colored eyes suddenly became <em> pure </em> green, almost gold! "<em>Let's continue to wipe these boards clean of these terrible pests!</em>" Seems that he might've snapped a bit with anger...</p><p> </p><p>Luigi notices the eyes change and tilts his head a bit... Though after what Hatty said about the ghosts, he can tell that the captain is angry and felt scared... "<em>S-sir Hatty... Are you okay..?</em>" The green plumber questions, worried about his outburst and his <em> different </em> look from his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a moment to breathe, Hatty slowly reached back and pulled a small band from the back of his kerchief. Pulling his hair back, he tied it up in a ponytail with a firm squeeze. "I am... sorry, I think... my emotions have just been a <em> welling </em> powder keg for a while. I think I lost my cool there for a moment, that wasn't fair for you to see that sort of nonsense."</p><p> </p><p>After hearing that Hatty's anger had let out a bit, Luigi pats his arm gently in hopes of letting him know that he's there for the captain. "D-don't worry, sometimes my emotions can get a b-better of me." That's the cold, hard truth, since he's more scared and afraid than angry at least, <em> especially </em> in a haunted place like the old S.S. Friendship.</p><p> </p><p>"It just... doesn't feel nice to be attacked by <em> so many </em> friends. There's easily <em> hundreds </em> of friends aboard the ship, so it... it's like a small state is against us. And everyone... I remember <em> everyone </em> when I see them. I remember when they <em> first </em> came to the ship. Half of them were... half of them were penniless, in <em> dire </em> need. It feels like <em> everything </em> I've tried to do, it gets rewarded with abuse now..." He sighed out, rubbing his eyes softly. "Sorry... I'm rambling on."</p><p> </p><p>"L-look, you know that they're being c-controlled by K-K-King B-Boo and th-that Maya guy... I-it's that... th-they're not themselves..." Luigi continues with a sad look on his face. "I-it's the s-same thing th-that happened to you, b-before we were able to f-free you f-from their grasp..." With a loud sigh and scratches the back of his head. "Th-think about who we've f-freed so far... Th-they still remember you fully, h-how nice you are to th-them and are willing to help <em> us </em> in return." The green plumber tried to remind the crew mates that are in the loading docks that helped them, at least kept fed, heal their wounds and the few that actually helped the two barely escape a <em> deadly </em> encounter with Hatty's own ghostly brother.</p><p> </p><p>"... that's true." He gave a weak smile, looking to Luigi with a softer glance. "You know just what to say to bring me back up from the <em> worst </em> moods. You're truly an incredible friend... if I had much of a ship anymore, I'd offer you a place within my crew... but I'm sure that you have a <em> very </em> fulfilling time on the land as it is if you protect and save kingdom after kingdom."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah... My brother wouldn't w-want me to leave here and help him when he needs me, a-as well as the mushroom kingdom..." He sighs heavily, "...But, that hasn't happened much lately, and he could h-handle most things on his own w-without my help." While talking to each other, the two didn't notice the small pink orbs coming out from the floor and went inside the broken instruments on the floor. "B-besides, Peach and t-the love of my life, Daisy, wouldn't want me to leave either..."</p><p> </p><p>"But, you're not going to rescue them <em> alone</em>. I swore when you rescued me that <em> I </em> would put myself through the worst of it in order to free your friends, family and your sweetheart. I won't rest until I do." Hatty offered a smile... though before long, he couldn't help but feel a <em> buzzing </em> in the air. "... do you feel that?"</p><p> </p><p>The green stache nods and smiles as he hears something close by and turns his head towards the sound. "Y-yeah, I do..." Luigi looks back to the broken instruments on the floor, glaring at them... Something suspicious is afoot, as he gets closer to the broken instruments.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty noticed the other going to the busted up instruments and followed suit. Picking up the neck of a ruined violin, he tisked heavily. "Who would destroy such regal instrumentation? ... darn, <em> everything </em> looks ruined. Even the <em> harp!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"I-it's sad that all of th-the precious instruments had been... <em> Neglected </em> all these years..." Just as when Luigi was going to pick up one of the instruments, it started to move on its own and freaked the green plumber out a bit. "Wh-what the--" In that instant, several of the broken instruments had come to life! That spooked him real good and jumped away. "<em>WWAAHHHH!!</em>" Of course, Luigi quickly moves out of the way just as when the instruments start to try to attack the two with themselves.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping sharply, Hatty held up his flashlight at the instruments that seemed to animate and move about wildly. However, strings seemed to <em> stitch </em> together once more, bows reknit themselves and drums become taut once more. The reanimated corpses of music began then to march towards the two, the deafening cacophony of chaotic chords made something as loud as the explosion of Nagasaki mute.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>O-oh nooo...</em>" Luigi tries to cover his ears from the loud music playing right next to him, but he had-to get the spirit orbs out the instruments. He shines his darklight at a couple of the instruments to see them glow for a moment before the pink spirit orbs pop out of them and sucks them up as quickly as he could before they had the chance to go back in. Once a few of the spirit orbs got captured, the instruments crashed to the floor, breaking them even worse off than before they took over from the spirit orbs.</p><p> </p><p>Following the other's lead, Hatty did the same, pointing to members of the brass family. "<em>Ack- I've always had a distaste for brass instruments! They're so loud!</em>" Groaning, he drew in those pesky orbs that animated these instruments, forcing them back into their broken, begotten states. Eventually, a few instruments became a little more <em> crafty </em>... a xylophone battered away with the drums, but began to juggle the orb between itself and a few others instruments, making it harder for it to be caught.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily there wasn't much that wasn't <em> animated </em> from the pink orbs, but Luigi focused on the violins and pretty much anything with strings; though a couple of the instruments shot their bows at the two, though the green plumber turned his vacuum and sucked up the bows before going back to the darklight to get the pink orbs out of the instruments as well as vacuuming them up. "Aha! Gotcha!"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty watched the orb flying back and forth between the instruments before <em> finally </em> catching it, as the instruments then fell apart. The xylophone fell to the earth with a <em> loud </em> clatter of off-tuned keys. "Good grief..!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi sighs heavily as he takes his hat off and wipes his forehead after getting all of the instruments and the pink orbs. "Phew..." Putting his hat back on and retracts the nozzle back to its resting position next to his poltergust G-00, he rubs his belly where his liver would be as he gets over to Hatty. "<em>Are you okay..?</em>" The green stache quietly asks the captain as he pats his arm gently.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah... I'm alright. Just a <em> sin </em> that these instruments got <em> destroyed </em> by those awful specters. Especially..." Going over to an old looking harp, Hatty stood it back up. "This was a gift from my great-grandmother. What a damn shame..."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Hatty getting the harp up and hearing that it was a gift, Luigi helps him get it to stand up in its original position. "M-maybe, w-we could get some of the crew to h-help restore it..?" He tilts his head as he scratches the side of his head.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't think any of our crew right now know how to fix this... only <em> two </em> of my crew mates were truly adept at <em> fixing </em> instruments. While many of us played, only two understood how to fix our instruments. They could replace keys, strings, drum cases- <em> everything</em>."</p><p> </p><p>"Oh... That's a bummer." Luigi wonders who it would be, as he kept his hand on his belly, not realizing that he just wanted to comfort Boocille; since he could feel her in his liver, and probably hiding something from the captain. "Gets me to th-think of who the two are..."</p><p> </p><p>The poor ghost within him felt so sad at seeing these ruined instruments. Boocille, before all of this, was an incredibly multi talented musician that <em> loved </em> many tools for tunes. Seeing them in pieces and hearing Hatty becoming more sentimental over an antique harp made her feel especially bad for the poor man. She sighed out, nestling against Luigi's core, trying to be as close to him as possible while being beyond his own grasp.</p><p> </p><p>"I haven't a clue... I would've hoped if anyone could've survived, it would have been them. They had an incredible music career outside of being part of my crew. I could only imagine how confused and heartbroken their fans may have been when they suddenly stopped playing. Their music brought so much life to the ship, so much color and happiness that now that it's nowhere to be seen? It's so dull..."</p><p> </p><p>Deep within his core, Luigi felt Boocille snuggle close; mentally hugging her close with a soft smile. Though physically, he frowns softly from Hatty's story of the two wanting to bring life on the ship with music and imagined how it would look and feel like back in those times. "W-well, maybe, if w-we could find the two and b-bring them back... They c-could help repair the h-harp at least..?"</p><p> </p><p>"I truly hope so... though, we should keep going. The harp can stay here, it's much too heavy and the dragging of it could attract far too much attention." Pulling himself away, Hatty turned on the flashlight and saw a small glimmer to the backstage. "... there. I saw movement."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods in agreement as he turns to the backstage. "Hmm?" He grabs his nozzle and turns on the flashlight to look, both walking over to the backstage to see what the small glimmer was. The glimmer was a small golden mouse! Luigi jumps a bit, but quickly reacts and charges his strobulb on it and releases, exploding the golden mouse in a lot of money! As well as a key.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping in amazement, Hatty watched as gems, coins and even pieces of flashy jewelry flew about the room in a mushroom cloud of riches. "<em>Wow!</em>" Deciding to go along with it, he sucked up a few thousands of dollars worth of these glimmering coins and stunning gems, seeing how prettily they twinkled! Pausing, he picked up a solid gold piece of eye wear, though the focals were <em> much </em> too magnified, making his eyes look like giant caricature ogles. "<em>Wooh</em>... weird."</p><p> </p><p>After vacuuming up all of the money and jewelry, Luigi snickers when seeing Hatty wearing the eye wear on his head after he picked up the key from off the floor. "Y-You look funny~" The green stache mentions as he walks back over to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Chuckling softly, Hatty sucked up the specs. "Those were like the glasses my Nan used to wear: really <em> thick </em> things that could bend light... probably <em> bend </em> reality as well. I tried them on once and thought I was going to have a seizure." Shaking his head with a sigh, Hatty looked to the key. "... queer, I don't remember this one."</p><p> </p><p>"You don't?" He looks at the key after Hatty vacuumed up the specs. "Hmm..." Getting the GameBoo Advance SP out, using the key scanner with the map data loaded, it showed on the map where the key goes next. "L-looks like it goes to this room..." He shows the device screen to Hatty, seeing if he knows about the room it's showing.</p><p> </p><p>Looking to the room, Hatty fondled through his brain's files to force himself into remembering. Then, seeing that sixth porthole window across the beam towards starboard, it jogged his memory. "<em>That's the Hall of History </em> ... that's where all of the paintings of my family are. How the Hattington family had its triumphant start, its fall, then it's revitalization... ... oh God... y-you don't think those... <em> paintings</em>..."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi takes the key off the device and gives it to Hatty after hearing about a little bit of his family's history. "Wh-what do you mean, those <em> paintings</em>..?" He questions, as he puts the GameBoo Advance SP away, and gets worried from the captain's tone.</p><p> </p><p>"My family paintings... they're <em> huge </em> monuments that showcase far back to the first Hattington man to be born within Europe back in 1604! They're nearly ancient... who knows what kind of energy they could draw in." That... was troubling.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, let's-a go check it out!" Luigi holds onto his nozzle with a flashlight and heads out of the small theater, though being cautious of opening the door and looks around before exiting. Though he wonders of the energy those paintings could draw in, but only way to find out!</p><p>During that time, Luigi and Hatty come across one of the conjunction hallways and look around to see if any ghosts are lurking around before proceeding. "S-so, what kind of e-energy do you think, those <em> paintings </em> can draw in..?" Luigi quietly asks, as he looks down one of the intersection hallways with his flashlight.</p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea... I'm hoping nothing <em> terrible</em>." Hatty felt a pit in his stomach, something felt... very <em> off</em>. As they approached the Hall of History, he felt something <em> flutter </em> in his gut. Something unusual, <em> otherworldly </em> even, rippled through his gut like a nervous twinge. Making the turn, doors stood there where doors never were before. "... these weren't here... it's supposed to be an open hall."</p><p> </p><p>"H-how strange..." As they both get to the doors, Hatty uses the key to open the doors... Though the key disappears this time around as it unlocks. Luigi slowly opens one of the doors a bit and looks in, it was a long hallway with all of the paintings on the walls. It was dark and eerie, with no lighting showing to help view the paintings easily, except for their flashlights and the small cracks on the walls. "<em>I-it does feel... s-scary...</em>" The green stache gulps as he enters into the famous hallway.</p><p> </p><p>The paintings hung high up and sturdy on the walls, dust thick in the air but the air was far more stiff. The stagnant void around them prevented the dust from floating free, keeping the two from becoming irritated by it. With the only source of major light being their flashlights, it bathed the area far more eerily... Looking up at the paintings, the eyes seemed to follow the two heroes. "... this is beyond creepy."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the eyes from the painting following them, Luigi felt even more uneasy. "<em>D-did these p-paintings have those... E-eyes follow a-anyone who c-come across th-them before..?</em>" He shakingly asks, as he gets closer to the captain to hope to keep each other safe.</p><p>As the two keep going down the hallway, a ghost has been watching both of them while invisible and throws a small item at the two, hitting Hatty square in the forehead. Luckily it wasn't very big nor sharp; just making a small bruise.</p><p> </p><p>"... no, these paintings are just... paintings. They're supposed to be, anyway. I don't recall the eyes-" Before Hatty could finish, hew as cobbled with a piece of wood that nearly sent him on his ass, causing him to see quite a few pretty stars before shaking his head. "<em>Brbrbrb- </em> ack, what the Heck?!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi gets spooked when Hatty got hit on the forehead and points the flashlight up onto the captain. "A-are you okay?" His worried tone shows through as he looks down with the flashlight of what hit Hatty, and sees... A big paintbrush? He reaches to pick up the wooden paint brush from off the floor and shows it to Hatty. "I-I think this had hit you..." The wooden paintbrush has red paint on it, which is still wet... <em> Red</em>... This shade of red looked like... <em> Blood! </em> Luigi starts to feel queasy at the sight of it and had-to chuck it back to where it came from as he looks away from it.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing the part on his head that was bruised, Hatty shone his flashlight onto the paintbrush that Luigi discarded. Looking down, he saw that it was a dark, shining red that was... not right. That was <em> no </em> paint. "... bl... blood..?" Slowly, he panned them up to the paintings. They appeared to be... scowling. Each face that used to be stone-cold and steely determination had eyes that stared <em> dead </em> at the two, with red beginning to trickle from every orifice from them. The cracks of the eyes, nostrils and mouths began to bleed as though they were injured.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, the forms seemed to <em> move </em> in the frames... they began to reach out before the paintings <em> broke through </em> the canvas. Hatty, paralyzed in terror, <em> screamed </em> his lungs out when the ancestors climbed out. The spirits took their forms, hissing and jeering at the man. "<em>Little bastard!</em>" "<em>Lousy captain!</em>" "<em>You revolting little twit!</em>" "<em>Garbage child, a waste of your father's space!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Soon as Luigi sees the ghosts of the ancestors, he yelps and tries to hide behind Hatty... But that didn't help much since the ghosts were coming from behind as well and surrounding the two. Shivering, he shines the light at the ancestor ghosts as they come closer to them. "<em>Ohh nooo... Wh-what's h-happening..?</em>" Luigi whines, scared of the ancestor ghosts coming after them. He tries to flash the strobulb at the ghosts, but it doesn't have <em> any </em> effect on them as they keep coming towards them.</p><p> </p><p>The blood that dripped from their eyes turned the orbs a sickly black as the plasma and cells <em> pooled </em> beneath the fine sheet of tissue above the swiveling sockets. "<em>I-I don't know..!</em>" Hatty flashed at the manifestations, but they weren't stunned by the brilliant gleam of the high intensity bulb. "<em>Oh, Jesus Hmong Christ, nothing's working!</em>" Pedaling back, the ancestors continued to hurl insults and undercut cries at Hattington.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You think your pathetic little flashlight can save you? You're just a child, truly... you'll never amount to a great captain.</em>" "<em>Your crew is trapped here because of </em> <b> <em>your</em> </b> <em> horrid leadership!</em>" "<em>You may as well have taken a rifle and blown your crew mates to Kingdom Come. You're just as </em> <b> <em>worthless</em> </b> <em> as that dirty little Guido you find yourself attached to.</em>" "<em>Useless plumber, you think you can stop </em> <b> <em>us</em></b><em>? If you want our advice, you should throw yourself into freezing waters. It'll be a </em> <b> <em>far</em> </b> <em> more merciful death than the one waiting for you.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the insults flying at the two heroes, they felt demoralized and saddened from their words with Luigi whimpers as tears started to well a bit... That is, until he turns on the darklight and notices that the ancestor ghosts were not ghosts at all - it's like they weren't even there in the first place! "<em>H-hatty... Turn on your darklight...</em>" Luigi whispers to Hatty, as he looks around to figure out the source of the illusions.</p><p> </p><p>The captain turned on the darklight, seeing a <em> sheet </em> over the specters glowing and revealing a heavy texture of canvas cloaked over them. "<em>I-it's canvas..! </em> But it's stuck to them, how do we get it off?" Training his light down, there was a small bit that dragged from their tails... ah! There! A weak spot! "... <em> I'm probably going to have to do the bravest and dumbest thing I think I've done in a while.</em>" Huffing, Hatty rushes about the specters, managing to lure them towards him. "<em>GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!</em>" "Luigi, <em> now!!</em> You have the upper hand!"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>W-wait!</em>" Seeing Hatty run through the specters and getting them to chase the captain, he looks at canvas and turns on the vacuum to suck up as much of it as he can. Each canvas that gets vacuumed up, the ghost illusion disappears, and shows the lesser ghosts that were hiding under canvas. Once the lesser ghosts were exposed, he uses the strobulb to stun them and vacuums them up as best as he could.</p><p> </p><p>Yelping out, these awful little specters got <em> spanked </em> with their tails caught in a vacuum nozzle. Hatty caught a few while Luigi caught a few, keeping things balanced as this continued on for several minutes. The canvas was pulled away, the lesser specters were revealed... and like that, the gates disappeared and all was quiet, leaving behind the ruined paintings.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Phew...</em>" Luigi sighs heavily as he readjusts his hat. "I-it wasn't that bad... I guess..." He frowns, as the paintings of Hatty's ancestors are even more damaged and ruined than before. "I-I'm sorry that th-the paintings have been r-ruined..." He lets the captain know as he catches up to him.</p><p>What they didn't realize is that the same wooden paintbrush was picked up from an invisible ghost, and throws it behind the two, knocking Hatty on the back of his head- though this time around with the soft bristles cushioning the hit... But, it left the <em> blood paint </em> in his hair. Oh dear. The ghost laughs a bit as Luigi hears it and looks down the hallway. "<em>W-who's there?!</em>" He yells out as he looks down the hall with his flashlight, but didn't see anything behind the two... Who could it be that's still here?</p><p> </p><p>"... I suppose that this was anticipated. I figured that they would've been targeted." It was a spiteful and demoralizing attack. The paintbrush that smacked him in the back of the head was starting to tip Hatty off, his flashlight turned about to try to find the ne'er-do-well. Remembering the darklight's illuminating properties, he turned it on and allowed it to glisten in a direction before it started to reveal the silhouette of something... <em> someone </em>! "Ah, I see you!"</p><p> </p><p>The ghost that was hiding had gotten revealed! It was the ghost of WeeWee, the artist on the ship that can manipulate paintings! "<em>Sacré bleu! You've found me! ...But it looks like you've stopped the </em> <b> <em>Illusions</em></b><em>... But no matter...</em>" With his smaller paintbrush in his hand, he quickly makes a few arts in front if him in mid-air and lets it <em> come to life! </em> It was small ghostly orbs at first, but quickly ramps up to lesser ghosts and a few boos that look like they were pulled from a fancy painting. The orbs, ghosts and boos come charging at Luigi and Hatty, making the green stache scream out and try run away, grabbing Hatty's hand and dragging him along with. "<b><em>WWAAAHHHHH!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty stumbled at Luigi's yanking before rushing along with him, training the dark light against these awful ghostly ghouls. "<em>You won't get the upper hand this time, you painted fiends!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Though there was nowhere to hide, Luigi had-to stop at the doors that the ghostly gates came down once again and trapped the two as they had no choice... Turning on his vacuum, the green plumber lets go of Hatty and turns around, trying to suck up the painting ghosts and boos that are coming after the two. "I-I'll get you!!" The orbs get sucked in right away, but the other ghosts and boos are a little more challenging as they try to fly away from the vacuum as Luigi gets dragged away from the door. "Wh-whoa!" He tries to pull back, but the resistance of getting the painted ghosts and boos were a little too high to get them all at once and loses his grip on them, tumbling back a bit as the painted ghosts go invisible.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing to the plumber's side, Hatty pulled the man up back to his feet. "You take care of dragging those little bastards in, I'll put the fear of God back into them!" He scowled and turned the darklight onto the lesser specters, forcing them back into being visible. "<em>There you are!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he gets up with Hatty's help, "G-good idea." The ghosts became visible once again with the help of the darklight from the captain, goes after the ghosts and boos once again, but this time with them being weakened, the ghosts were able to get sucked in completely while the boos were still a little harder to get, but was able to get them after slamming the boos onto the floor a couple of times; leaving a mess of paint on the floor as well as the floor cracking a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You're not going to win, WeeWee! You're outmatched! There's two of us and one of you!</em>" He cried out, knowing that the painter ghost could easily hear him.</p><p> </p><p>While Luigi and Hatty were trying to get the ghosts and boos, WeeWee was busy making another painted art in mid-air - this time a much bigger ghost that can take on the two quite easily. "<em>We shall see about that!</em>" The ghost looks awfully familiar... To <em> both </em> of them; which made the two get scared, especially Luigi as he hides behind the captain. "<em>O-oh no...</em>"</p><p>Of what WeeWee created, was a painted version of the ghostly Reginald. They both remember how the real ghost of Reginald of how powerful he is, but just seeing him like this can easily spook them both. Luckily it wasn't the real ghost and can be a weaker version instead as it comes barreling towards the two.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing not only painted doppelgängers, but now a clone of his own <em> brother</em>... After being teased and taunted by the spirit of his <em> actual </em> brother, this was making the captain's blood <em> boil </em> . It was like WeeWee knew <em> just </em> where to poke and prod... it was like a hot poker to his nerves, and Hatty's grip tightened on the poltergust nozzle. Scowling, his eyes went from green and blue, back to that glowing green once more. "<em>You... you snide little, sorry </em> <b> <em>excuse</em> </b> <em> of an artist!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the doppelgänger of Reginald charging at the two heroes, WeeWee just laughs how the two reacted to seeing the doppelgänger. "<em>At least it'll be easy~</em>" Or so WeeWee thought, as Luigi notices Hatty's anger once more building up at the doppelganger. Worried, Luigi builds up the courage as he notices something sparkling behind one of the paintings next to him. Taking the painting off, he notices the plug that he remembers using back in the Last Resort hotel.</p><p>His poltergust G-00 felt the electricity coming from the plug and connected to the vacuum; making an engine sound coming from it. "<em>St-stand back...</em>" Luigi gets in front of Hatty and turns on the vacuum, as the vortex was much bigger than what Hatty has seen before and breaks a lot of walls, floors, paintings as well as quickly sucking up the dopelgänger without much effort.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty stepped aside, watching this <em> manic </em> display of pure power take hold. Holy <em> guacamole!!</em> This thing had the power of a <em> dreadnaught </em> engine!! Canvas, pieces of wall, even bits of the <em> ceiling </em> were being sucked into the vacuum! The clones were beginning to become trapped and panic, trying to claw themselves free before becoming <em> thoroughly </em> trapped. "<em>Nooo! Release us!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi tries to get closer to where WeeWee was at, the electric tether stopped him from going any farther; which the ghost of the artist crew mate was barely out of range. "<em>I'll k-keep th-this going!! I c-can't get any c-closer!! Get WeeWee before he m-makes another c-clone!!</em>" The green-clothed lad yelled out as the noise from his poltergust was loud enough to stifle most of what he said to Hatty.</p><p>WeeWee gasped as all the paintings and walls were ripped from their foundations and got back to stay away from the vortex to avoid getting sucked in. "<em>Grr... You won't get away with this!!</em>" The ghostly crew mate threatens as he starts to draw out another clone while staying away from the powerful vacuum.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that WeeWee was distracted with another painting, yet <em> another </em> clone, Hatty was swift to rush over with his own device. Turning it to the painter, he turned on the strobe and charged it, firing it in order to blind the artist. "<em>I won't dare let you paint another face in vain to skew the good of the crew again!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The vortex makes the travel to WeeWee a little difficult, thanks to the strength of the vacuum suction power, but Hatty was able to make it to the ghostly crew mate before he was finished with the next piece of painting a clone as he gets stunned from Hatty's strobulb. "<em>Ack! How dare you!!</em>" He tries to break free from being stunned... But the time he breaks free, Hatty is already on his <em> tail </em> and starts sucking him into his own vacuum. "<em>N-noo!! This isn't over!!</em>" WeeWee struggles to get himself free from Hatty's vacuum, but what he didn't anticipate is that the ghostly crew mate inadvertently got caught into the more powerful vortex from Luigi's poltergust and got vacuumed almost instantly. "<em>NOOOOoooo....</em>"</p><p>After WeeWee had been captured, Luigi gets the electricity to unhook from his poltergust and turns back to normal; switching the nozzle back to the flashlight. The destructive power left a lot of damage to the hallway- leaving holes in the walls, floor and ceiling, but they could be repaired later on. "Are you okay, Mr. Hatty?" Luigi asks as he comes over to help.</p><p> </p><p>Dragging WeeWee, the look in Hatty's eyes was <em> deeply </em> lacking mercy. As though he flipped all memories from the sweetest to the most bitter and resentful, the <em> scowl </em> was so uncharacteristic of him that it was almost a nightmare to witness! Seeing the painter and the last of his creations being drawn into the vortex a la Luigi, Hatty was finally able to take a deep breath. The green in his eyes had returned... the mixture of anger and frustration had made his eyes burn that nearly <em> golden </em> green. It was bordering <em> unnatural </em> to see. "Hff... hff... I..." Hatty had a shake in his voice, a tremor in his hands and hair that stood up. "... I'm alright now. Just... seeing a clone of my brother being made... <em> really </em> brought out something bad about me."</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing what Hatty is saying, Luigi gets worried about the captain. "<em>Well, at least y-you're okay... Th-though, I w-wonder what you mean, about b-bringing something b-bad about you...</em>" Luigi felt clueless of what Hatty meant what he said about him, of something <em> bad </em> from within.</p><p> </p><p>"I... I honestly don't know. I've... I've <em> never </em> felt this sort of <em> anger </em> . This sort of <em> boiling </em> rage, I... I don't... I don't know what's wrong with me. I think it might just be the weight of everything <em> really </em> starting to get to me now. Might just be chipping away at me, mentally speaking." He breathed out, smiling, trying to ignore the tension in his throat.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi pats Hatty on his arm to gently calm him after he puts his nozzle away to the side of his vacuum for a moment. "<em>W-well, let's go back to th-the lab to rest and recoup.</em>" The Italian plumber gently grabs his arm and walks through the damaged hallway of history to the other end... What the two didn't expect is that one of the paintings fell down from the wall and broke into pieces, making Luigi jump and yelp out as well as try to protect himself to try to avoid the portrait.</p><p> </p><p>With the painting falling down and <em> completely </em> shattering from the aged and neglected wood frame, Hatty's face twisted into a withheld look of heartbreak and pure anger. "... perhaps it would help in the grander scheme to get some rest. Maybe I'm just cranky and need sleep."</p><p> </p><p>After exiting the other side of the hallway of history once the ghostly gates lift up, the two loom around cautiously to make sure no ghosts are around with their flashlights... But this time, they notice Cerbergiest in his dark Polterpup form just at the end of one of the long hallways, sniffing around to try to hunt down the two heroes. "<em>O-ohh n-n-noooo...</em>" Luigi shivers, seeing his old pup turned demonically evil trying to find them. With a soft gulp, he turns off his flashlight. "<em>Th-this c-could be b-bad...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Pushing Luigi against the wall, Hatty knew that covering themselves with that cleaning agent would only work for so long before it began to wear off. "<em>Luigi, we need to get out of here, now! Use the pixelator, we need to leave before he catches us.</em>" It was best to drop away to avoid getting caught by that vicious hound.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Th-that's i-if th-there's one n-nearby...</em>" Luigi frowns, since there wasn't a pixelator television nearby where they're at that he knows of, though he hopes that Gadd doesn't call them at this critical moment of needing to be silent so they don't attract the evil ghost dog.</p><p>Down the same hallway, there were multiple doors that lead to certain rooms, but some are locked and some are not. The two had-to make the difficult decision to press on while Cerbergiest was in visual range as Luigi hugs the wall as best as he could while being quiet at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Holding his breath, Hatty was <em> praying </em> in his mind that not a soul could hear either of them. It was just a small stretch more towards the next few doors. Inching little by little down the halls, it seems that each door was locked in preparation for this. Shoot, he didn't know where any of these pixelators were... and if Cerbergiest caught either of them before they could get to it, it could <em> easily </em> be lights out!</p><p> </p><p>During their trip to slowly and quietly get to each door and see if the doors are locked or not, Cerbergiest was getting closer to the two, sniffing around to try to pick up the heroes' scents. Though as the dark ghost puppy turns around to spot Luigi and Hatty, the two finally get to a door that's unlocked as they slip in and closes the door behind them.</p><p>The two stayed silent as best they could as they heard the sniffing from Cerbergiest coming on through; hoping and praying that the ghost dog doesn't pick up their scent. Though, Luigi is shivering like someone in the deep freeze, but Hatty tries to keep him steady, as well as keeping the poltergust to rattle too loudly.</p><p> </p><p>Holding onto Luigi, he was hoping that he could silence the rattling before the hound could hear them... unfortunately, the hound heard <em>everything</em>. Slamming against the door, it went from the unassuming tiny pup into that huge, snarling <em>beast</em> once again! Hatty gasped, ducking back. "<em>Luigi, run!!</em> <b><em>Run!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>N-no, I-I'm not leaving you b-behind!!</em>" Luigi hugs Hatty's arm as he tries to bring the captain with him to get away from Cerbergiest, since he didn't want to lose a good friend that is helping him throughout the horror adventure. While the two were trying to keep away from the evil ghost dog, Luigi scrambles to try to find <em> something </em> to try to get away; though, he couldn't find much while being in a small, empty room.</p><p>Of course, the loud barking and snarling at the two has alerted at least one ghost that was close by, which makes the situation <em> worse </em> as he comes over to see what's going on. "<em>What's going on?! What's this mutt that's attacking something?!</em>" The ghost enters into the small room, noticing that it was Luigi and Hatty trying to stay away from Cerbergiest. "<em>Well well, looks like this mutt has caught something </em> <b> <em>juicy~</em></b>" The ghost has big ears, which was able to hear even the most silent of whispers... It was Kirby Lobewax! Turning around, Kirby snaps at Cerbergiest to make him go away, "<b><em>Enough!!</em></b>" which makes the pooch yelp and turn back to the small Polterpup state and run off.</p><p> </p><p>Giving out a small, relieved sigh, Hatty was thankful that another ghost stopped that mutt from making a snack out of them. Its mouth filled with crocodile-like, crushing teeth was just <em> inches </em> from turning the two into a late night snack... the only problem now? There was <em> another </em> ghost here!</p><p> </p><p>After Cerbergiest had run off, thanks to Kirby Lobewax, Luigi felt a little better as his heart rate went down drastically, but was still a little higher than he liked, thanks to another ghost being with them. "<em>Heh heh heh~ You're lucky that I've made that stupid mutt go away on you both~</em>" Kirby Lobewax laughs as he goes invisible, "<em>But at least I'm here!</em>" He mentions as spectral gates come down to lock the two in.</p><p>Seeing the ghost go invisible, Luigi gulps as he tries to look around for the ghost that's with them. "<em>G-glad he made that e-evil dog to go away... B-but now he's here...</em>" The Italian plumber whispers to Hatty, not realizing that the ghost can hear <em> everything </em> Luigi is talking to the captain.</p><p> </p><p>"W-where could he have gone?" Looking around, Hatty's flashlight slung about. Having super fine hearing, Kirby managed to tune himself to the point where he could stay undetectable with how he drifted before the captain felt a tug and a yank.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, his feet weren't on the ground, and he cried out in <em> pain </em> . The back of Hatty's underwear were yanked high up, his toes barely scraping the ground with an <em> anguished </em> look on his face. "<em>Auuugh..! Ow ow ow ow leggo leggo leggo leggo!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Luigi noticing the ghost doing to Hatty, he turns on the darklight to show Kirby Lobewax yanking on the captain's underwear hard enough to cause pain. The green stache didn't hesitate to use the strobulb to stun the ghostly crew mate right after sucking up his tail. "<em>ACK!! Let go!!</em>" The ghost tries to get away as best he could, which made the plumber get dragged a bit away from Hatty. "<em>Whoaa!</em>" After a few tugs, he loses the grip on Kirby and goes invisible, tumbling back a bit. "OOF! Owie..." Luigi shakes his head as he gets up to look around for the ghost again, though hoping to not make any sort of noise; but even the soft buzz of the flashlight can be picked up from Kirby's large ears and stays away from the light.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty whined out, sniffling and shuddering out at feeling his no-no's being caught up in the confining, squeezing prison of his underpants. Slowly pulling himself up, he had to swallow his dignity and fish the flossing twine of his briefs out from his nethers and wince, feeling them snap beneath his rump and junk once again. "<em>Oww..!</em>" He coughed out, rubbing a bit at his crotch at the constricting elastic that nearly hurt him to a crippling degree.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi rushes over to Hatty and helps him up. "<em>Are y-you okay..?</em>" He felt concerned about the captain as Luigi kept looking around himself. Of course that Kirby Lobewax hides a little ways away from the two as he listens in on the two.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Nngh... </em> I'm alright, give me a minute while I try to find the squeezed, ruptured remains of my <em> dignity</em>... then, I'd love to catch this two-bit elephant eared bully and throw him into the fast cycle." He spoke with snarled teeth with the last one, feeling that deep burn of humiliation trickle from neck to cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh heh~ This is so much fun~</em>" Kirby laughs while invisible and flies around, making sure that they couldn't track him easily; even when Luigi tries to find the ghost trail of the specter with his darklight. Though, when the green plumber does spot the ghost trail, it quickly goes to a dead end, as if Kirby Lobewax <em> knows </em> where the light is going towards. "<em>I-it's easier s-said than done...</em>" Luigi mumbles when he's having a hard time trying to keep tabs on the specter.</p><p> </p><p>Flashing his strobe around, Hatty realized his lightbulb was flickering before suddenly going dark. "<em>Oh no no no no! Oh, bend me over and call me Susan! Come on, don't do this to me!</em>" Frantically unscrewing and rescrewing in the bulb, he only managed to get it to refit crooked... with that, it began to emanate a <em> terrible </em> high pitched tone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Beeeeeeeeeeee-re-re-re-r-r-r-r-eeeeeeeep! </em>
</p><p> </p><p>That loud sound from Hatty's poltergust was a blessing in disguise as Kirby couldn't take that kind of noise whatsoever as he halts himself and tries to cover his ears. "<em>AAHHH!! That noise!! MAKE IT STOPP!!</em>" WIthout realizing, he made himself visible while the noise was going on; making the specter vulnerable to attack.</p><p>Even while Luigi is wincing from the noise, but with that opportunity, Luigi spots Kirby Lobewax and uses his strobulb to stun the ghostly crew mate. "I-I got you now!" "<em>ACK! HOW DARE YOU!!</em>" Kirby yells out as he gotten stunned as Luigi switches to the vacuum nozzle and snags on his ghost tail. "<em>ACK!! NOO!!</em>" Being dragged around, Luigi yanks as hard as he could and slams the crew mate onto the floor, knocking some 'health' off before being able to vacuum him up. "<em>CURRSSSEEE YOOOUUuuu....</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty looked up and saw the absolute divine assist that this screeching lightbulb truly was. Even though his nozzle was on the fritz, it was helpful in <em> this </em> case. Occupied with trying to fix it, the beep continued on as Luigi made swift work on the phonosensitive specter. Once he was gone and sucked up, Hatty growled and, in a frustrated huff, removed the bulb entirely. Putting it to his ear, he shook it. "... shoot, the bulb completely burnt out. That explains everything."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi tries to clean out his ears after hearing that screeching noise as he walks back over to Hatty. "Y-yeah, looks like you need t-to get a new bulb." He sighs heavily after the noise had stopped. "Th-that poltergust hasn't been in use for a l-long time since the one I have now is the m-most recent design m-model f-from the professor, so probably was d-due to replace the bulb."</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry about that noise, I tried to make it stop... but I guess it was helpful that we could make Lobewax incapacitated... while I know it's going to bite me for calling him two-bit and the sort. I don't know <em> what's </em> been getting into me as of late. I hope I'm not snapping."</p><p> </p><p>"I-I wouldn't know either..." As both Luigi and Hatty head out of the small room and go down the hallways to hope to find a pixelator television, one of King Boo's and Maya's servants had been listening and watching... But the servant didn't stay and went back to King Boo and Maya to give more information to the two of the developments of the two heroes. </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>Hearing about Hatty's <em> anger </em> growing and releasing bits of it into some kind of <em> power </em> that even the captain doesn't know he has yet; but Maya... He could sense this power welling and growing from deep within Hatty as the servants come to inform the two masters. "<em>Hmm...</em>" Maya scratches his shin, as he gets information about Hatty's <em> anger</em>, "<em>I can sense something </em> <b> <em>deep within</em> </b> <em> that dumb captain...</em>" The demonic spirit questions, as he ponders about this <em> power</em>, and what it is.</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing this, King Boo's brow quirked at this information from one of his servants. "<em>An uncharacteristic anger and changes... hmm~, I think there may be a means of us gaining control of that pretentious little cabin boy!</em>" "<em>King Boo, Lord Maya, what do you plan to do with this sort of information?</em>" "<em>Simple! </em> <b> <em>Exploit it!</em> </b> <em> If there's a way to find out exactly what this rage building within him is, we could harness it and turn him into a double agent. If his crew mates are so easily thwarted and returned to their normality, then there might be a way for this "beloved captain" to be our greatest asset!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yess, though needing to find the right time to harness that power, as well as gain that control of him...</em>" Maya smirks, as he generates a small, dark red energy ball and releases it unto the ship as it goes through the ceiling, to find a random item to hide in, just for Hatty to find later on. "<em>But no matter, the waiting game awaits... Heh heh~</em>" Licking his lips, the demonic specter sets the servant off as he flies around King Boo and pats him on his head as well as massaging a bit with his claws.</p><p> </p><p>The massage caused the king to flush, nestling against Maya's hand. He didn't even realize just how much <em> lower </em> he was than Maya in this pecking order, but the demon king ensured that he was equally none the wiser. "<em>Nhyyye..~ hehe, this will allow everything to fall beautifully into place.</em>"</p><p><br/>"<em>All we need to do now, is wait...</em>" Maya keeps scratching King Boo's head gently, with his mind thinking of the <em> power </em> that Hatty has; in which he figures out <em> what </em> this power is deep within the captain, but he keeps it under wraps from everyone, <em> including </em> King Boo himself as he doesn't want to let him know what he's <em> truly </em> hiding.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Mr. L's Revival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Luigi and Hatty keep walking down the hallways, they both come to a door that was unlocked and walk inside. Looking around the room, they spot one of the few pixelator televisions within the whole ship, on the wall! Though, the room looks like it's a billiard hall, with a couple pool tables and a small lounge inside.</p><p>"Boy, this place looks f-fun to play in." Luigi mentions as he looks around the dark room with his flashlight cautiously, since all the lights in the room were broken or burnt out; with a couple holes in the floors as well as the pool tables not in good shape, thanks to being neglected for some time.</p><p> </p><p>Trying in vain to revive the bulb, Hatty sighed and pocketed the broken bulb. Well, that's unfortunate, but ho hum. Instead of focusing on that, Hatty turned his attention to the old rec room. "Oh, this is the recreational room! The billiard table is surprisingly still standing..!" He tried to stay positive, looking about and looking up around the ceiling. Once decorated with brilliant hanging lights and filled with the soft hum of music, now it was empty save for the freezing winds outside of the ship. Memories rushed back... those of cigar smoke, billiards and so much fun that was had.</p><p> </p><p>Picking up a pool cue, Hatty checked the handle. "... this was my brother's favorite cue that he bought during our stay in Puerto Rico."</p><p> </p><p>"Looks nice t-to relax in." With a smirk, Luigi pats Hatty on his arm as he listens a little bit about his past while looking around before walking over to the pixelator television. "C-come on, let's get back t-to the lab, so we can get some r-rest and repairs." He says to the captain as he pulls the lever to activate the device to teleport back to the lab.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding in affirmation, Hatty set the cue back down and followed Luigi over to the pixelator, allowing himself to be transported back to the lab as well. Upon returning, E. Gadd seemed a bit shaken... as did <em> everyone</em>. Seems that howl rocked through every piece of wood within the ship.</p><p> </p><p>Once Luigi had come back and landed on his butt, he noticed how the professor was shaken from the loud howls. "P-professor!" The plumber gets up and rushes over to him. "A-are you o-okay..?" He gently asks him, as Gadd readjusted his glasses. "I'll be fine, Luigi! I'm just worried and afraid about that Polterpup of yours finding this place." The professor sighs as he shakes his head; thinking about the task ahead and trying not to get worked up from the Cerbergiest finding the loading docks and his lab.</p><p> </p><p>The cooks and doctors were <em> shivering </em> at hearing that soul-freezing howling. "I-it was so loud... it's <em> terrible!</em>" "I can't believe they would turn a sweet little pup into such a <em> fiend!</em> W-what are we going to do to stay hidden?" "... the best thing to do is to hide our smells, however we can. Cleaners, gasoline- whatever means possible."</p><p> </p><p>"Not to worry! I've been trying to develop a doggy repellent for all of us, but I'm trying to make it so it only affects that evil dog and not Anubis." Gadd sighs as the formula hasn't been successful yet; which Anubis doesn't like the smell as he whimpers and tries to hide from it. "Wh-where's Anubis now..?" Luigi asks the professor with a concerned look on his face. "He's in hiding, but I'm not sure where; since I haven't been able to find him in my lab. He must be with the other crew somewhere."</p><p> </p><p>Hatty looked about, realizing that the poor pup was all on his own. Whistling, he dropped to his knees and clicked his tongue in hopes to get him to return. "<em>Anubis!</em>" Hearing Hatty's voice, the tiny bark echoed before tiny paws pulled the pudgy body forward and <em> jumped </em> into his arms, licking his face. "Aww~, hi, puppy!"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smirks when Anubis is alright and is with the captain, though he feels sad about his own turn evil and attacked him and Hatty, making him feel sad and frown. "Just wish th-there was a way t-to turn my own pup back to the innocent puppy we know and love..." His heart sank, just thinking of how Maya and King Boo are treating his own sweet puppy they took from him. "We'll think of a solution to bring the pup back, Luigi, don't you worry!" Gadd gives a nice smile to help reassure the plumber. "Th-thanks, professor..." Those words from Gadd help boost his emotion from sad to happy a bit, but doesn't get rid of the deep sadness of the whole ordeal.</p><p> </p><p>Sensing the sadness that Luigi was feeling, Anubis stood in Hatty's hands before <em> jumping </em> to Luigi, clinging onto him with his tiny ghostly claws. "<em>Ark, ark!</em>" The tiny pup gave his nose those tiny puppy kisses, nuzzling against his chin happily, trying to get him to smell onto the plumber to welcome him as part of his pack.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi quickly catches Anubis, the sweet little puppy wanted to give love and happiness to help the green plumber feel better. With the dark ghost puppy licking his big nose and nuzzling him, this made him smile a bit and hold Anubis close while he pets the ghost pooch. "Ohh, you're such a good puppy~" Luigi lifts Anubis up high with a happy expression on his face for a moment before hugging the pup once more.</p><p> </p><p>"Isn't he such a good boy? Oh! Do ghost puppies need special care?" Hatty neglected to ask this whole time, having been so preoccupied with everything else that'd been happening! Luckily enough that this pup was <em> already </em> a ghost...</p><p> </p><p>"Well, probably needs to get fed, like dogs that are still alive, since Polterpup and Boocille can eat food just like we can..." Luigi mentions as he takes the cute pooch with him to Gordon. "H-hey Gordon, d-do you have anything for this cute Anubis?" The Italian plumber asks the head chef.</p><p> </p><p>"I do believe I could make something for the little pup. What would this sweet little pup like, chicken or beef?" Two barks left the pup as his tail started up again. He had a much more nubby tail than Polterpup did, but had rather large paws and comically floppy ears. Wonder if he'd ever grow from his tiny size. "Right away, good sir!" Musing the barking, Gordon lightly scratched the pup's head before getting something ready.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, as Hatty was starting to wind down to rest, he couldn't help but feel an <em> awful </em> weight return to his shoulders. Felt so unusually cold for him, an awful feeling of being weighed down and dragged down into a slump. ... maybe his mind was just acting weird because of the lacking sleep.</p><p> </p><p>During that time, Luigi tends to Anubis as he waits for the little ghost pup's food. Though, the plumber notices Hatty walking to a good place to rest not too far away and walks over while waiting. "<em>H-hey, how are you f-feeling..?</em>" Luigi gently asks as he sits next to him with Anubis in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>"Ah, just... I think I'm overly tired. My mind's starting to pull tricks on me. I just need some good sleep and I should be feeling <em> much </em> better." Relaxing into his spot, he could hear the little pup yapping at him and saw that sweet little face. "What a cutie he is... I know that he isn't like Polterpup to you, but I do hope that he helps you feel a bit better."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, we all need some rest after being up so much..." Luigi yawns and stretches tiredly as he sets Anubis next to Hatty. "Probably after we eat and a nap, w-we can go back to rescuing th-the crew and my family." He replies while petting the dark ghost pooch happily. "N-no, but I still miss my sweet Polterpuppy..."</p><p> </p><p>"I swear to you, we'll get your family, friends <em> and </em> Polterpup back from all of this madness. I owe you that much." Hatty reassures Luigi. Soon, a unique smell fills the air. Something slightly spicy with a delightful hint of lime. "... oh, something... something smells delightful~. Smells like the cooks found an old spice cabinet."</p><p> </p><p>"S-spice..?" Luigi couldn't handle spice whatsoever, since it would give his digestive system <em> severe </em> issues ever since he was in the beanbean kingdom as he makes a worrying face. "<em>I-I hope I don't get any of that s-spice...</em>" He doesn't want to tell Hatty the reason, since just <em> thinking </em> about it makes his cheeks flush a bit and looks away in embarrassment.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't think it's <em> that </em> much... more like spice for flavor than heat." Luckily, it wasn't something like peppers. More like a bit of paprika and red pepper, but not to a degree where it'll burn Luigi through.</p><p> </p><p>"I-it's not that..." He replies, "It's just that..." Luigi takes a deep breath and sighs heavily. "<em>M-my digestion... C-can't handle a-any kind of spice...</em>" He informs, as he grabs his hat and covers his face to hide his embarrassment, since if he ate any kind of spice... Well, let's just say, he'll be in the restroom for a while.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh! Well, let me inform the chefs, then. They're known to make changes for someone's needs. Hopefully it isn't too far along into that process. Fret not, I don't want you to be miserable." Hatty got up and went to inform the chefs to chill with the spice for Luigi's sake, only making it to sound like a dietary sensitivity without getting into the gory details.</p><p> </p><p>After seeing Hatty go over to the chefs to inform them, Luigi felt embarrassed about this dietary sensitivity and lays his head on the small table, since the crew mates were able to bring a couple tables and a few chairs from the mess hall to the loading docks for the time being. .oO( <em> I-I hate being s-so sensitive to s-spice... </em> ) He thought to Boocille, since his digestive issues he has that not even any kind of healing from hearts or the sweet boo inside him would patch this sensitivity up.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> If it helps you feel any better, I don't much like spice myself. It makes my belly hurt quite a bit. </em> ) Seems they were on the same boat there, though luckily there was enough time so that Luigi could be spared the spice and not be cooked on the inside out.</p><p> </p><p>A soft smile shows from Luigi's face as he puts his hat back on his head after hearing Boocille; though the smell of food cooking makes his appetite and his stomach gurgle... But he does remember eating a whole lot just a few hours ago and felt hungry again. He doesn't want to take <em> all </em> the food away from others, since there's more of the crew mates, the toads and Gadd that needs to eat too. But then again, Fargus is just as hungry to eat as he looks over to the guy as he comes over. "H-hey, you hungry too?" Luigi asks Fargus as he sits up from the table and gets his hat to fit perfectly on his head.</p><p> </p><p>"Ouf, <em> always</em>. But, I have to make sure to be generous and ration for everyone here. Hopefully, we could find a wellerman's ship somewhere and sneak some ingredients and necessities aboard. I can see that the doctors are getting worried about their medicines and the chefs are working with a finite venue. Unless there's some sort of grocery store ghost, I'm not sure what else we're going to do."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah... With finite resources, w-we're not going to last long i-if we don't ration..." Luigi sighs, "Th-though, if this ship finds another kingdom in th-this current state..." He gets worried about whether one else in other kingdoms would want to come onto the ship and unknowingly get captured from King Boo and Lord Maya. "We can't take that risk without any kind of damage to any places we dock." Kazu appears right beside Luigi and sits down next to him. "The S.S. Friendship needs to stay at sea until this menace is dealt with completely - even if we run out of the resources to keep us fed and healed."</p><p> </p><p>"... m-maybe there might be something aboard the ship..." Hatty started to think before something hit him. He gasped, eyes lighting up. "<em>The rations closet! </em> W-we had a bunch of MRE's in the event if we were marooned at sea for an unsure period of time... but that's all the way in the <em> far back </em> end of the ship." "The MREs? What're those?" "They're <em> meals ready to eat</em>, basically they're survival rations that don't go bad. The army and survivalists pack them. They're freeze dried and cured foods that can keep us sustained. T-there should be enough rations for a long time once we run out of fresher ingredients."</p><p> </p><p>"M-must be th-the ship had them s-so in case the ship was lost at s-sea for a long time." Luigi thinks about where they are after Hatty says their location. "T-though, just hope they haven't been ruined after all this time of not being used." He worries about the contents of them if they're still located at the back end of the ship, as the food Gordon and chef are cooking up is making everyone at the table more hungry as they smell the aroma coming their way.</p><p> </p><p>"I just hope that they <em> are </em> still there." Though now is not the time for worry, now is the time for food! The chefs rolled out supper, seems like it was soft shelled street tacos that <em> erupted </em> with flavor and looked so good. It wasn't <em> as </em> fancy as they could dish out, but considering the crisis situation they were in, it was better than what most people would make in a panic.</p><p> </p><p>While most other crew mates, toads, Hatty and Gadd were happy chomping down on their supper of street tacos while the chefs give small bottles of spices on the side for anyone to add in as they please; Luigi was worried if it has any spice in his, so he cautiously sniffs it after picking it up to see... He couldn't smell any in his, so he took a bite. The taste was a slightly bland - thanks to not having any spices in it - but at least it tasted good otherwise and felt happy that he won't feel awful later on as he chows down. .oO( <em> Delicious~ </em> ) He thought, though wondering if he could try to give a part of his food to Boocille.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille, while not <em> needing </em> to eat, needed just a small amount. She didn't want to horde when she didn't need to eat since Luigi was alive and needed all the fuel possible. If necessary, she was willing to hold off until they could get these MRE packages. .oO( <em> Glad the chefs evaded the spice for your sake. Wouldn't want your tummy to feel rumbly. </em> ) All the while, there was a chopped up steak, served to the little pup. Very well diced and cut so that he could eat it, Anubis was <em> more </em> than eager to eat.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-yeah, glad they didn't put any s-spices in it, even though it is s-slightly bland... C-can't win every battle. </em> ) After a few minutes, Luigi was able to finish off his taco without any problem with a smile on his face as well as the other crew mates, toads, Hatty and Gadd finish not long after; though most others put spices in their tacos to have a little <em> kick </em> to their supper. Anubis on the other hand, was happily chowing down on the diced steak and mostly ate it one go. "Delicious~" Luigi announces happily as he licks his lips and wipes the crumbs off his mustache with a napkin nearby. "You said it~" Aaron mentions as well, as he burps a bit after covering his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone was very well fed... and outside of the window was a new moon night with a punishing snow outside. Thankfully, the connected pipe system was rigged well enough to where they could keep warm through and through. No risk of freezing here. Luckily, the crew had managed to find some bedding as well and created sleeping quarters. Things were starting to really take shape now!</p><p> </p><p>Luckily everyone was much more comfortable sleeping in a section of the loading docks compared to earlier; which they didn't have the bedding. Though, while everyone was resting, there were a couple of the crew mates keeping watch to make sure that no ghosts would come from above or through the walls; and even if they did, the crew mates would warn them.</p><p>But for now, it's been peaceful and quiet while Luigi and Hatty are sleeping much better than before, and the green plumber is not snoring as loudly. Anubis slept next to Hatty while Boocille went into hibernation. After a while, Luigi was the first to wake up this time, still having the same nightmare as before and sprang up from his makeshift bed with a loud yelp; unknowingly waking up the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty ended up being pulled out of a sound slumber, equally as spooked. Looking around, he seemed a bit more in distress than before... he was rubbing his neck, broken in a cold sweat and looking about frantically.</p><p> </p><p>"Ugh... Th-these nightmares a-aren't letting me sleep..." Luigi mentions as he grabs his hat and puts it on his head. After wiping off the sweat, he looked over to Hatty and he too woke up from his nightmare. "A-are you okay, Mr. Hatty..?" He politely questions as he puts his hand on Hatty's arm gently, since both of them were sleeping next to each other, though not on the same bed.</p><p> </p><p>Clutching onto his ascot, Hatty pulled it loose and gasped out... it felt like there was a weight on his chest as his eyes shook in their sockets and heart was beating <em> hard </em> in his chest. It took a moment for him to finally reply. "<em>Y... ye... yes, yes... I'm... I'm okay, now...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After he sat up, Luigi felt more awake but also tired at the same time; if that makes any sense. With a big and long yawn, he gets up from his bed and hops off, grabbing his poltergust G-00 and puts it on his back. "W-well, since that sleep didn't help much, might as w-well get going anyway." The green-clothed lad walked around the beds to stand next to the captain as well as petting Anubis gently after the poor ghost pooch woke up from the two's noises.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling himself off of the bed, Hatty gently placed the pup down back onto the cozy, warm blankets. "<em>Ark, ark!</em>" "Stay here, puppy. I don't want you getting hurt out there. I promise that I'll be back soon." He smiled weakly, lightly booping the pup's nose before he flopped onto his back and playfully wriggled his paws. "<em>Ark-ark!</em>" "What a sweet pup..~"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smiles a bit as he pets Anubis more as he digs out a small bone from his pocket and gives it to the small ghost pooch to chew on. "There you go~ Probably can h-hold you over until we get back." With a soft tug on Hatty's hand, both he and Luigi heads out to go find more places to explore the ship, though their priority now is to get the rations so the increasing number of crew mates, toads, and Gadd wouldn't starve whenever they run out of the fresher ingredients for food consumption; but they had-to travel through the pixelator television from where they were last at so that Cerbergiest don't track their hideout location.</p><p>As they travel down the hallways with their flashlights, they head their way to the bilge, where most of their stockpile of supplies are in... But it's a long trip to get there, since they're on the opposite side of the ship from the bilge. "A-are you s-sure it's th-this way..?" Luigi asks, since he doesn't know the layout of the ship by memory and doesn't want to dig out his GameBoo Advance SP to look at the map and become vulnerable to ghosts lurking around the ship.</p><p> </p><p>"I-it's a <em> long </em> ways towards the back deck... the stern. I know where that is, I remember going there to put the crates there. I can recall that much." Going down the hallway, they had to pause and hide their lights to avoid losing precious time due to Boos whisking by with their tell-tale cackling laughter. Continuing down and passing the ruined rooms that were once filled with friends and laughter, seeing these husks that used to be something colorful turned Hatty's hopeful look of one into soul crushed sadness. The despair filling his heart made every inch of him feel beyond heavy.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi nods as he quickly turns off his flashlight once he sees the boos fly by, shaking and feeling scared of hoping for them to not spot him and Hatty. But after the boos didn't spot them, Luigi follows on; though the plumber can feel Hatty's sadness and heartache, since the cabins crossing by them were falling apart. Though, one of the doors was closed as he walked over to it while most others were broken and didn't have a door at all. Luigi was intrigued to see one of the doors intact, but he remembers from the first mansion he was in as he doesn't want to open the door and keeps on going... But Hatty wanted to check that unusual door, which unbeknownst for the captain, it was a <em> trap</em>.</p><p> </p><p>"... huh. This door seems to be mostly intact. The others are torn off the hinges. Might at least be a book of matches, or maybe something of a sorts left in there that could be useful." Hatty tried to turn the knob, but was instead met with the door flying open to show only a wall and a false frame. The hardwood <em> slammed </em> forward and squashed him flat against the wall behind him before slamming shut. His eyes spun with stars that dangled in his sights before he fell forward after the air popped back into him. It took another moment or two for him to regain his composure and come to once more, pulling himself from that state. "<em>... o-ow...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"H-Hatty!!" Luigi comes over to help the captain up after being <em> flattened </em> from the fake door and hearing the all too familiar sinister laugh he remembers back in the first mansion... "N-need to be c-careful w-with those d-doors..." Grabbing Hatty's hand, he pulls him up from off the floor.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ow...</em>" Pulling himself together and shaking the stars from his head, he stumbled before he finally reconstituted himself. "What was <em> that?</em> A prop from the fun house?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi couldn't help but snicker a bit at the remark of the fake door, "Th-these ghosts l-like to play tricks on us... E-even if it could be <em> d-deadly</em>..." The green plumber worries about other <em> traps </em> that they've come across before, appearing before them as they continue on to the bilge and being wary of any ghosts coming around. Even though it took them a while to get there while being cautious, the two finally made it to the entrance of the bilge; but before they were able to take one step to go downstairs to get directly into the bilge, the spectral gates come down all around, closing them off from running away from danger. "<em>ACKK!! O-oh n-n-nooo...</em>" Luigi gulps as he looks around with his flashlight, wondering who would come next.</p><p> </p><p>Clutching firmly onto the handle of the flashlight, Hatty looked around and could <em> hear </em> something. ... a skateboard? ... wait a second, he <em> knew </em> the sound of those wheels! "... <em> Cool Kid</em>." He paused, turning to be met with the incoming body of a skating specter. The irony of a legless skateboarder paled in comparison to the ollie that was performed before the man lifted the board up. "Cool Kid?!" "<em>In the unliving ectoplasm! You see, I'm trying to bust some more moves... and two you are really starting to cramp my style. I've been told what you two have been up to... frankly, it's </em> <b> <em>not</em> </b> <em> cool.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Stomping down onto his board, it caused <em> several </em> specs wearing Boos to float up from the ground. A few with slicked hair, even some with leather jackets. All... well, <em> cool!</em> "<em>Let's r-r-r-rough them up, boys! But watch the hair! Remember not to fuss up the hair, gotta look good for the celebratory photo op.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Cool Kid and the cool-looking boos come up from the ground, Luigi gulps as he shakes in fear and notices that some of them have glasses on to protect themselves from the strobulb flash. "<em>Th-this is bad...</em>" Looking behind him, he notices that there's boos behind the two with the same getup. "<em>W-we're surrounded..!</em>" The Italian plumber whimpers, feeling so scared and afraid.</p><p> </p><p>The Boos all laughed and flashed their grins at the lot, having more toothy grins than normally. Hatty thought swiftly and tried to use the poltergust in order to suck the shades off of the Boos, only to have them hold onto their glasses and turn ethereal before one particular got <em> angry </em> . Spinning around, its tail lengthened and <em> whipped </em> him upside the cheek. "<em>Don't mess up my hair, butthole!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Soon as the boos went invisible and Cool Kid was the only one left, a dense fog appeared on the floor as the air got bone-chilling cold, though it was the unnatural cold that ghosts and boos sometimes generate when they're nearby. Luigi shivers as his breath becomes visible from the cold air. "<em>U-uh ohhh...</em>" With a loud gulp, he uses his darklight to try to find the boos that are coming towards them, but with a few that actually have shades on, the darklight wasn't effective on those boos and tries to avoid their attacks as they come after them.</p><p>The ones that don't have the shades were affected from the darklight and become visible after a few seconds. Once the visible boos become vulnerable and dizzy, Luigi switches to his vacuum and grabs hold of their tongues and slams them on the floor multiple times until they are vacuumed in the vacuum chamber. Looks like these boos were weaker than the other boos, but multiple boos can be a problem as he gets hit from one of them and gets knocked to the floor. "<em>OOF!! Owie...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seems that the vacuum wasn't a good use to get those shades off... though if Hatty couldn't <em> draw </em> those glasses off, maybe he could <em> blast </em> them off. Pulling himself from the dust, he turned just in time to see Luigi being smacked down. With fear gripping his throat, he revved and readied the gusting mode. With a <em> strong </em> blast that sent him into the air, a few of the specters lost their shades. "<em>Gotcha!!</em>" Hatty cried out, managing to snag one of the Boos and draw it in with his vacuum, slamming it about before drawing it in. Seems that this worked perfectly! Though it would take more time in order to get these ghosts defeated, those shades were a <em> major </em> obstacle.</p><p> </p><p>That didn't help was Cool Kid peddling about on his skateboard and coming in with a charge towards Hatty, managing to kick flip <em> off </em> of the man, knocking him down onto the ground. "<em>Too slow, there, cap'in! Get a better hobby 'cuz you're no ghostbuster!</em>" The snide comments, rather than hurting Hatty... it seemed to shift something <em> more</em>. That green glow returned with his teeth gritting tensely, turning the vacuum onto a nearby Boo. Catching it, he used the struggling in order to pull himself up... the next move was... <em> surprising</em>.</p><p> </p><p>In a haze of anger, Hatty <em> swung </em> the Boo at Cool Kid, striking him in the stomach and sent the board flying in a direction as the two barreled back with a spin. "<b><em>ENOUGH!! I WON'T TAKE YOUR ABUSE ANYMORE, YOU WANTON SORRY EXCUSE OF A SKATEBOARDER!! ONCE I FIND YOU SOLID, I'M GOING TO SHOVE THIS VACUUM PIECE RIGHT INTO YOUR--</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hatty!!" Luigi yelps, as he gets up from off the floor after hearing his outburst and brushing his butt a bit to get the dirt off. "Th-there's no n-need to g-get angry..." He gets worried about Hatty, as he pats his arm gently to help calm him down. "W-we'll get them, j-just that if w-we let our a-anger get to us..." With a sad and worrying emotion on his face, he looks up to the captain.</p><p>While Luigi was distracted to help cool Hatty down, a couple boos that are left come after the green plumber and knocks him a bit a ways from the captain, but he recovers quickly and goes after the boos with the shades; bursting the shades off of them and uses the darklight on them to get them visible and vulnerable; capturing them after slamming them on the ground several times.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Luigi come to him helped pull him out of his angered stir somewhat... though at seeing Luigi knocked over again and himself being shoved, it caused that same twinge to return. Hatty blasted the Boos, but began to show an unusual <em> cruelness </em> as he did it. Getting <em> closer </em> to the Boos, he would spin them about. Catching them by the tails, he would slam them into walls <em> many </em> times before sucking them in... some of the ghosts even began to tremble in fear.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>This captain's a psycho!</em>" "<em>He's gone insane!</em>" "<em>He's a bigger bully than we thought!</em>" One of which of the Boos was eventually caught, Hatty bringing the ghost closer to his face. "<b>You're damn right I'm a bully. And I'm about to rail on you for what you're worth!</b>" More slamming even caused the wood beneath him to splinter as some of the specters even began to flee... Cool Kid was starting to feel that nervousness well as he tried to get his skateboard back. However, upon seeing this, Hatty turned the suction on, drawing forth the board... when it rolled under his feet.</p><p> </p><p><b> <em>SNAP!</em> </b> With a hard stomp, he bashed it into pieces with his foot. "<em>My board..!! My brother gave me that..!</em>" "<b><em>Go cry to your brother then... better yet, cry for your Mommy because I'm going to make you blubber like a waif once I get my hands on you!!</em></b>" "<em>Run away!</em>" "<em>He's gone crazy!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Before Cool Kid and the last couple boos were able to run away, Luigi decides to unhook his vacuum hose and attaches it to Hatty's, "N-not getting away th-this time..!" With the connection to both poltergusts, its suction power doubles to bring the last of the boos and Cool Kid to get captured from them from a little farther away as they try to run.</p><p> </p><p>As the cowardly few were drawn in, the gates disappeared with a more unusual stillness in the air. Hatty was <em> shaking</em>... his eyes were <em> glowing </em> with anger, breathing heavily with the intensity of capturing those dreadful spirits.</p><p> </p><p>After the last of the boos and Cool Kid gotten captured in their poltergusts, Luigi detaches his hose from Hatty's as he pats the captain on his side once he sees his eyes glow golden green again. "H-Hatty... P-please calm down..." He softly mentions as he screws back his own nozzle on the hose. "W-we got them, a-and we'll f-free them after w-we get back t-to the lab..."</p><p> </p><p>Panting out, Hatty looked to Luigi... the friendly face made his eyes soften and look at him with more kindness. Looking down, Hatty realized what he'd done, scooping up the pieces. "... Dear God in Heaven, what did I <em> do?</em> ... what's <em> wrong </em> with me?!"</p><p> </p><p>"I-I don't know..." With a sad expression on Luigi's face, he worries about the captain's actions if his anger gets any worse than what it is now. "B-but, let's t-try to keep your anger down w-when you can..." Hatty's anger isn't helping Luigi's timid nature and feeling scared for what would happen, as he continues on to go down the stairs into the bilge with his flashlight.</p><p>The bilge was <em> massive</em>, as if it could hold a lot of cargo that can help keep the S.S. Friendship sail the seas for <em> years! </em> Since there's a lot of crates all around as well as having pathways to get to some of the crates, both Luigi and Hatty set forth to try to find the crates that carry the rations while the green plumber felt so scared of any of the crates move in anyway...</p><p>While the two heroes travel within the bilge, there was a ghost of one of the crew mates lingered around high above, keeping an eye on them and being silent as he waves a magic wand around; just teetering one of the crates high above just enough, but waits for the right moment to strike!</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi and Hatty keep going, the two look around to try to find the crates filled with rations inside. Though since it was a large space, it'll be hard to spot without the labels being shown right in front of them or opening them up to see what's inside. Of course, Luigi was curious to look inside a few of them to see what's inside a few of the crates; amid cautiously. Some were replacement parts for in case a part of the engine had broke, some others were replacement appliances for the kitchen and laundry rooms, some were extra blankets and pillows for whenever some old ones got used so much they needed to be discarded.</p><p>The last crate Luigi checked as he opened it slightly, a bunch of fireworks let off like last time and spooked the poor plumber, "<em>WWAAHHHH!!</em>" He falls flat on his butt and shivers for a few seconds after the fireworks stopped. "<em>W-why mee..?!</em>" Luigi whimpers as Hatty comes over to help him.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of creaking and the most eerie silence made the hair on the back of Hatty's neck stand up. As if his own anger didn't put him on edge, the fireworks <em> sure </em> helped to make him even more spooked. Jumping harshly, he turned his flashlight to the sound, only to catch a flare flying towards him and prompted him to hit the deck. "<em>Jesus-!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After catching up to Hatty, Luigi hears something nearby, but doesn't know what yet. "I-I'm sorry that I've a-accidentally set th-those fireworks off..." He felt sad that the noise spooked Hatty, but then again, the green-clothed clad was even more spooked from the sudden noise from the fireworks.</p><p> </p><p>"I-it's no trouble... I just didn't realize there would even <em> be </em> fireworks in there. Ugh, some horrific pranksters likely hitched up a booby trap there." With a groan, he helped pull Luigi up off of the ground before anything worse could pop off. "Let <em> me </em> look through the boxes for a change. I hate seeing you get so scared."</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty has helped Luigi up from the wooden floor, the plumber shakes his head a bit. "<em>O-okay...</em>" He quietly mutters out as Hatty continues looking inside the crates while Luigi looks after the captain to make sure neither of them would be caught off-guard from any ghost attacks.</p><p>As soon as the two get to the <em> perfect </em> spot the ghost crew mate tips the large crate a little more, just enough to teeter on the very edge; just as Hatty opens up another crate to look in to help make the crate high above to move over the edge and fall down straight to the two heroes below.</p><p>As the crate falls down at the two, Luigi looks up just in time to see the crate falling towards Hatty and makes a split second decision, "<em>WATCH OUT!!</em>" The green plumber shoves the captain out of the way just in the nick of time; but instead caught himself under the crate with a loud yelp. "<em>ACK!!</em>" The crashing sound echoed throughout the bilge, breaking the crate open and burying Luigi under it like a thwomp coming down and squashing him, with only leaving his hat laying just outside from the small pile of rubble of once the crate filled with the rations they were looking for.</p><p> </p><p>Being pushed forward, Hatty felt his senses become jarred and spun around, only to find Luigi's hat and hearing a soft murmur from beneath the rubble. After a frozen moment, his voice broke and he cried out, "<em>LUIGI!!</em>" Immediately raking his fingers against the broken piece of wood and crooked nails, he didn't care how or if he got hurt. Luigi was in <em> trouble!</em></p><p> </p><p>It took a bit, but Luigi was finally dug out from all the rubble of the crate and lots of the rations that were crushing the poor plumber. After Luigi was uncovered, he was laying flat on his belly and was knocked unconscious from the hard blow to the head; there was a deep gash on the side of his head and bleeding. This made the plumber completely vulnerable to any other attacks, though he wasn't aware of it as he was out of commission for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty had softly rolled Luigi onto his side and tried to shake him a bit in hopes of waking him up, the captain hears a soft laughter echoing throughout the bilge. "<em>Ohh, did I hurt the poor, innocent plumber, dear captain~?</em>" The ghostly crew mate's voice bounces all around the walls and crates, making it hard to pinpoint where he was.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Luigi in such a horrible state, the nasty gash and serious bump on his head, "Luigi, wake up! Please wake up..." There was no response from the sweet plumber, finding out that he lost consciousness after he saved him from being crushed from the crate. "<em>L-Luigi...</em>" He felt horrible for the plumber to sacrifice himself to save him, but hearing the mocking only served to make the captain's blood boil. He turned around, with a much less than friendly snarl on his face. "<em>Where are you?! Friend or not, I'll make you deeply regret ever setting a slimy tail back onto this ship!! I'll be the one to send you right back to </em> <b> <em>Hell</em></b><em>, spirit!</em>" The glow to his eyes, while dimmer, was re-emerging... clearly, his friendly and otherwise calm demeanor was starting to shift. All of the stress and effect on his psyche was starting to show something <em> far </em> more sinister, something <em> darker</em>. Every thought of ending things peacefully was a distant memory, as all that Hatty could see was a red ring that faded into his vision, making it look like a tunnel constructed of pulsing sinew.</p><p> </p><p>During this time when Hatty goes to find the specter crew mate, deep inside Luigi's subconscious... The darkness that was locked deep down in it for a long time starts to shift, awaken from its deep slumber. Boocille can feel this darkness coming from within and starts to envelop Luigi's conscious mind... It's like, the darkness is it's own personality, separate from the sweet plumber's as it takes over the consciousness for now. .oO( <em> Finally, I am free... </em> ) The voice, it sounded like Luigi's, but much darker and more <em> booming</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille could hear that unusual voice that trembled the foundation of his very core. She shuddered and shakily squeaked out. .oO ( <em> ... M-Mi... mister Luigi? Y-you're scaring me..! </em> ) However, she wasn't aware that this was <em> not </em> Luigi, necessarily; from deep in his subconscious.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ha ha ha! Your threats are nothing compared to what I can do to you!</em>" While in the bilge, the ghostly crew mate waves his wand as the magic moves some of the crates around and floats up in the air. "<em>Let's see if you can dodge all of this!</em>" That voice... It was so familiar. It was the magician, Crispy Exterior, and is out for <em> blood! </em></p><p> </p><p>Once Hatty saw the attacks, he was forced to dodge the attack from Crispy Exterior, having to yank his unconscious friend to keep him from being abused by the specter while still trying to recover himself. "<em>Goddammit..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh heh~ You can't dodge forever!</em>" With his wand, Crispy opens up a few crates and releases a few boos that were hiding within and rushes at Hatty while a couple more crates come after.</p><p>While being held in Hatty's arms for the captain to try to dodge the attacks from the crates and the boos, Luigi slowly stirs from his unconscious state; though when he opens his eyes, the sweet, bright blue eyes had turned grey as his dark personality shows through! Grabbing the poltergust nozzle, he shoves Hatty's arm away as he stands on his feet and aims his darklight to where Crispy Exterior is hiding. "<em>Heh, If all of you want to play, then I'll play </em> <b> <em>HARD</em></b><em>!! </em>" Luigi chuckles in his anger, as his voice sounded more darker than normal as the darklight picks up the ghost traces of Crispy, trying to hide from high above the two While sensing the boos coming after him and quickly leaps away from them as they come close, as well as using the burst from his poltergust to shoo the boos away from him.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Wh- Luigi?</em>" Hatty felt himself being shoved away and how... <em> bold </em> Luigi became! Seeing this shift was alarming, but this only fed into the man's perpetual anger. Looking up and spotting Crispy going along, Hatty following along... seeing how he was up high against the ceiling, he got an idea. Aiming the guster down, he <em> blasted </em> himself up high and took aim!</p><p> </p><p><b> <em>FLASH!</em> </b> Up close and personal, the striking beam could easily paralyze anyone due to it being so close up! Falling back down, Hatty landed with a surprising amount of grace... his eyes were <em> burning </em> now, his smile was <em> reveling </em> in the cruelty. "<em>If you specters think it just to abuse us... </em> <b> <em>then I can beat on you like a disobedient wife!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh, let's see how well you can do to snatch me now...</em>" Luigi mutters with a grin, as the boos with cute wizard hats go invisible as they have their own wands to use and throw fireballs, electric balls and ice balls at the sweet plumber..? That's <em> if </em> he's even the sweet and loving plumber now. This <em> new </em> Luigi wasn't shaking in fear, but more confident and uses his poltergust to suck up the fireballs and ice balls that are coming at him, but dodges the electric balls; having the electric balls hit one of the boos with friendly fire as the green stache reverses the suction into the blower, sending the fireballs and the ice balls back to the boos and knocking them back and getting the evil boos dizzy. "<em>Heh, such weaklings...</em>" He uses his darklight to reveal the boos and uses this opportunity to grab hold of their tongues with the vacuum nozzle and yank them as hard as he could; sucking a couple of them in while the yank sends them away like a pinball as they bounce on the crates, walls, ceiling the floor.</p><p>With that bright flash up close and personal, Crispy Exterior was frozen from his position. "<em>ACK!!</em>" After getting stunned, he was vulnerable to get caught into Hatty's vacuum and gets brought back down to the floor. "<em>N-NO!! LET GOO!!</em>" Crispy Exterior struggles to get free as he tries to fly away from being pulled in, but the resistance wasn't too strong as his '<em>life force</em>' was being sucked in. After a bit, the resistance was just enough for the ghostly crew mate to get popped out from the suction power and go invisible to hide again. "<em>Try to get me now!</em>" Crispy scowls as he flies farther away from Hatty and Luigi.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was occupied with sucking up any stunned and injured Boos there were knocked over by the shockingly graceful attacks from Luigi... it was like a flip was switched in <em> him </em> now! Dragging them down into their defeat, Hatty showed <em> no </em> mercy with the onslaught, even <em> whipping </em> a Boo into the other. "<em>ACK!</em>" "<em>OW!!</em>" "<em>You'll not know pain like what </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> will see you in!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Spotting the magician go invisible again, Hatty scowled and suddenly rushed in the opposite direction... seeing how the specter with the slight of hand was readying his next attack, the captain opted for <em> guerilla </em> tactics... laying in wait for the opportunity to strike.</p><p> </p><p>After the boos had been knocked around and became vulnerable, Luigi didn't hesitate to get to the boos and sucked them up into his vacuum chamber. The dark switch flipped within Luigi's mind as he grips the nozzle as he goes to hunt Crispy Exterior down with the darklight, leaving his hat on the floor.</p><p>"<em>Come out wherever you are, you angered spirit...</em>" Luigi huffs, as he looks around in his greyed out eyes, though Crispy had <em> other </em> ideas, as he uses his wand to move some more crates high above the plumber. Though the green stache heard the crates move above him and looked up. Noticing the crates falling onto him, he sprints away as quickly as he could in order to avoid the crates smashing onto the floor.</p><p>After getting to a safe spot in the bilge, there was a path of rubble from the crates on the floor as Luigi pants a bit to recover. Once recovered, he looks back and sees all the crashed and destroyed crates on the floor and looks up with the darklight, seeing Crispy high up. "<em>You're not very nice for destroying the supplies...</em>" Luigi dashes over the mountain of rubble and uses his burst from his vacuum, giving him a height he needs to use the strobulb to stun the specter. This stun brought Crispy back down to rubble of crates and supplies for Hatty to have the opportunity to snag him.</p><p> </p><p>Taking that moment to <em> charge </em> , Hatty caught the magician by his wispy tail and trapped him within the cyclonic suction. "<b><em>FINALLY CAUGHT YOU!!</em></b>" His voice clapped out like thunder of an angered god, his face in a bitter snarl and eyes focused on the magic man. In an act of borderline <em> insane </em> rage, he swung his arms heavily and slammed Crispy against the wall firstly, causing things such as pigeons and ghostly rabbits to fall from his form. "<b><em>YOU think that you have the gall to treat US like we're some PAWNS?! I... will BREAK YOU!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EEP!!</em>" Crispy tries to break free from the suction from Hatty's poltergust, the magic specter wasn't able to get free this time and gets sucked in completely. "<em>NOOOooo....</em>" After being sucked in, Crispy whimpers as he was defeated from failing to stop and capture the two heroes.</p><p>After knowing that Crispy Exterior was captured, Luigi walks over to his hat and picks it up from the floor as he dusts it off. "<em>Hmph, serves him right to try to attack us.</em>" Just as when he puts his hat back on, the loving and light soul of Luigi's finally wakes up from the sleep state and takes back over; smothering the dark side of him for a while as his eyes turn back to the bright blue it was before... But the green plumber loses his balance and crashes onto the floor with a pounding headache as well as feeling dizzy. "<em>Wh-- what h-happened..?</em>" His mind reels in what happened as he looks around in a daze, as Boocille felt relieved that the good side of Luigi came back and his dark side got suppressed again.</p><p> </p><p>With a frothing rage that trembled, boiling his skin and bubbled his blood, Hatty turned to see Luigi's otherwise softer and far more friendly expression. Going over to him, his <em> burning </em> eyes accented on a hostile face, though the hand that reached down was a complete 180 to the current status. "<em>Take my hand. We have to gather these provisions and return to Dr. Gadd before something else happens. You're injured, so stay close by.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>In his daze and confusion, Luigi shakingly grabs Hatty's hand and gets pulled up by the enraged captain, though he doesn't realize just yet. "<em>Wh-where are w-we going..?</em>" Luigi quietly asks as he was picked up in Hatty's arms and was carried away, though Luigi felt sleepy with the pounding headache and dizziness, "<em>Th-thank you, H-Hatty...</em>" Luigi softly mutters as he drifts off into a deep slumber from his head injury. Looks like he needs some rest and healing from a special heart in order to bounce back again.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> L-Luigi? M-Mr. Luigi? Can you hear me okay? Let me know..!! Y-you're badly hurt, I-I think you may have a concussion, s-so don't fall asleep. It might be dangerous..! </em> ) Boocille's voice squeaked out, still shaken from the entire experience, however her pleads fell upon deaf ears. Hatty paused at hearing his Poltergust beeping loudly with something bouncing from the back of it. Seems there was an automatic release on it when one of the two were at a <em> certain </em> threshold and weren't able to immediately access it. "<em>Hmm..?</em>" Watching the heart bounce to Luigi and merge with him, it was a relief that he was healed... but Hatty also had to get some of the provisions squared away before any were lost thanks to those terrible ghosts.</p><p> </p><p>That sense of care, that urgency... that friendliness seemed to be muddled with something else. Something <em> dreadful</em>...</p><p> </p><p>After the heart had gotten absorbed within the green plumber, the injury from his head was less severe and the concussion had went away, though the dark side of the sweet plumber had awoken, waiting and hiding deep within his subconscious to take over when the perfect time strikes, as Luigi comes around. .oO( <em> M-my head... </em> ) The throbbing on the side of his head was still there, but wasn't as bad as before. .oO( <em> B-Boocille..? </em> ) He can sense that she gotten afraid of something, but doesn't know what yet. .oO( <em> Wh-what h-happened..? </em> ) He quietly thought to her while his eyes were closed and noticed that Hatty was carrying him in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Mr. Luigi! </em> ) Within the confines of his own mind, he could see Boocille going over to his side and hugging onto him. .oO( <em> Y-you got knocked out and I... I was worried that you were falling asleep! S-something's off... there was something dark lingering in here! S-someone super scary! A-and Hatty's acting weird, too..! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>With Boocille hugging him mentally, Luigi hugs her back to help comfort her. .oO( <em> S-something d-dark..? </em> ) He tries to look around in the deep recesses of his subconscious and notices the darkness deep within it. .oO( <em> I... Don't remember having this... </em> ) He whimpers, feeling scared of seeing the darkness recessed back there. The darkness was quiet as it tries to keep itself from going any closer, since the light was strong from Luigi compared to the weaker darkness; though there was eyes that was peering through the thick darkness that looked like the green plumber's, but it was grey and <em> cold </em> compared to the loving and cheery bright blue... Then it <em> clicked </em>.</p><p>.oO( <b> <em>Oh, you don't remember me? It's too bad, since I've been here since your inception.</em> </b> ) That <em> dark and booming </em> voice, it sounded so familiar... Sounded a lot like Luigi's, but much darker. .oO( <b> <em>It's just that ever since with Dimentio, he awakened me long ago until you were freed from my grasp and was locked away until now...</em> </b> ) The darkness comes closer, as the black smoke forms into a dark silhouette of Luigi. .oO( <em> Wh-who are you..? </em> ) Luigi tries to back away, realizing that the darkness had formed just like the sweet plumber! .oO( <b> <em>I-- I'm your darkness, your dark alter ego... Mr. L! Heh heh...</em> </b> ) Luigi hugs Boocille tight as his dark alter ego has come close. .oO( <b> <em>But no matter... I'll be around... When the time comes...</em> </b> ) Mr. L goes back to the deep and dark recesses of Luigi's subconscious and lays silent... Just lingering around until it decides to want to come around and take over. Luigi whimpers as he holds Boocille close. .oO( <em> Wh-what was th-that..? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Clinging onto Luigi in abject horror, Boocille could only watch as the figure proclaimed <em> who </em> he was, but nothing of <em> why </em> he was there. Only a name, and he was gone in a flash... Dimentio... she couldn't remember the name. .oO( <em> I... I-I don't know... b-but that was scary. A-are you alright, Mr. Luigi? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>While outside, Hatty had managed to find a few crates worth of the MRE's, pulling them aside with surprising silence and fortitude. His eyes were <em> dark</em>... they had stopped glowing, but he had much darker bags that hung under his eyes and a <em> scowl </em> that could kill if looks could do just that. A serious unhappiness, a <em> lack </em> of joy... an unusual <em> want </em> for destruction, a <em> desire </em> to release this rage but no outlet.</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty had found the few crates of MREs that weren't destroyed from falling to the floor, Luigi was sitting next to one of the crates close by as he wakes up from losing consciousness the second time from his head injury. .oO( <em> I-I'll be okay, Boocille... </em> ) With his bright blue eyes showing as well as feeling a little tired and dizzy, he opens them and looks around, noticing that it was dark all around and realizes where he was at. He grabs the flashlight and quivers, scared of what to come as he spots Hatty not too far away and shines the light at him. "H-Hatty..?" The sweet plumber's voice shivers out of his throat as he tries to get up; though a little difficult thanks to the dizzy spell.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing Luigi's voice, Hatty looked over to the man... his eyes were <em> totally </em> different. The draining anger that he felt was still <em> ripe </em> in his veins, that friendly look in his eyes was <em> completely </em> replaced with such malcontent, contempt and the unshakable <em> anger </em> that bubbled high in his soul. It was like he was swapped with an angry doppelganger. "<em>Good. You're awake. Let's get these MRE's down to the others before something </em> <b> <em>else</em> </b> <em> needs a spanking.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Hatty's different demeanor had changed <em> drastically </em> from what he remembers, Luigi gulps as he shivers in fear. "<em>A-are you okay..?</em>" He feels concerned for his new friend as he grips his flashlight as he hesitantly walks over to the angered captain. He wanted to help Hatty calm down before grabbing the MREs, as he grabbed his hand. "I-I'm glad you're o-okay at least, after saving you from th-the crate falling from h-high above..." Luigi whimpers, as he cares for his friend with a slight smile in hopes to help quell the anger deep within the captain.</p><p> </p><p>Looking to Luigi, that usual glimmer that was in his eyes was cast aside for pupils that <em> devoured </em> all light and joy. Yanking his hand away, Hatty snorted out... God, something got him <em> severely </em> twisted. "<em>Let's not waste any time and get this down there.</em>" Looking over, Hatty noticed the skateboard pieces that were busted. Instead of collecting them, he looked to the wheel and bits he tried to pocket to fix before <em> throwing </em> them into the pile. "<em>... some </em> <b> <em>friend</em> </b> <em> to attack us, irrespective of what strings he has. Ungrateful mongrel, you save him from poverty, you try to right your wrongs... and for what? </em> <b> <em>Nothing</em> </b> <em> but pain. I'm starting to lose any sights on what's good about saving </em> <b> <em>anyone</em> </b> <em> if this is going to be the end result.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Oh... lord. He was... he was <em> serious</em>. This wasn't simply some depressive episode. He was so infuriated, he would turn his back on <em> everyone</em>.</p><p> </p><p>With seeing Hatty yanking his hand away from what he had said, Luigi felt even more scared from the angry captain as he backed off a bit; since the cheery and bubbly personality of Hatty had all disappeared. Though, he wants to help the other crew mates, the toads and Gadd, he couldn't just leave the MREs down here and goes over to the destroyed crate and uses his vacuum nozzle to suck up the MREs to hold into his seemingly bottomless vacuum chamber as he tries to stay away from the captain for now without saying a word. .oO( <em> S-something definitely w-wrong with H-Hatty... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I can sense that he's just... gone so cold on the inside. L-like that spark was put out in him somehow. D... d-do... do you think after fighting all of his friends th-that... he's just snapped? S-should we tell Professor Gadd about this? </em> ) Boocille cared deeply about Hatty as well, and seeing him in such a state made it far worse.</p><p> </p><p>As Hatty silently worked on trying to situate the rations together, there was a soft noise that went from a soft hum to something louder. "<em>... ark-ark! Ark-ark-ark!</em>" Through the wall sprang the tiny Anubis. Tiny limbs pulled him forward as he galloped on all fours, firstly over to Luigi. What was he doing out here?</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> P-probably would mention it t-to him... </em> ) Once Luigi hears and sees Anubis come toward him, he stops his vacuuming and lends out his arms to catch the small ghost pooch as he leaped into his arms. "Oh! You c-cute Anubis... What a-are you doing here?" The green plumber happily pets the ghost puppy to help him feel better and more happy before setting him down for Anubis to go to Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>The tiny pup licked Luigi's face with that tiny tongue of his before scampering over to Hatty. Initially ignored, Anubis barked to only receive silence... he wasn't taking <em> that </em> as an answer. Hopping around, he dove through the wall... waiting for Hatty to come close, he suddenly <em> pounced </em> through and managed to knock the captain down. "<em>AACK!</em>" On his back now, the licks met his face with frantic, excited panting and a sweet puppy dog face... <em> that </em> finally snapped Hatty out of his trance, bringing him back with a smile and a pet to the pup. </p><p> </p><p>"... aww, Anubis..~"</p><p> </p><p>After getting enough MREs, Luigi walks over to Hatty once he realizes that the captain snapped out of his angered state and was sitting on the floor. "Mr. Hatty... Y-you okay..?" His face has a worrying expression as he kneels next to him and pats his shoulder gently.</p><p> </p><p>Patting the pup on his chest, Hatty looked up to Luigi... his <em> own </em> head began to throb as he could recall everything in that <em> blurry </em> haze of anger. "... I... I don't know... I've never... I've never <em> ever </em> felt so <em> diabolically </em> infuriated before. Like... something... <em> snapped! </em> ... this is really it... I'm just devolving into a mental patient, aren't I?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi goes to sit next to Hatty, taking a deep breath. "N-no... It's just that..." The green plumber frowns while having the flashlight on. "I-I'm just h-happy th-that you're okay... A-after I-a got you out of the way f-from that falling crate..." Luigi mentions as the injury to the side of his head was still visible, but not as bad as before; which Hatty can clearly see.</p><p> </p><p>"I saw that... it was <em> horrifying! </em> That I saw a dear friend of mine get so hurt! It just... it made me go off of the deep end. I don't know <em> why </em> I snapped in such an <em> awful </em> way! All I could think of was... was..." He paused, shakily covering his mouth. "<em>Dear God </em> ... all I could think of was <em> hurting </em> those ghosts... <em> hurting </em> my friends! I've <em> never </em> thought of hurting anyone in <em> revenge </em> for someone else being injured..! ... ah, I... I digress, are you alright?" Finally sitting up fully with a pup at his side, Hatty looked at the nasty welt on Luigi's temple. Yeesh, a nasty knock for sure...</p><p> </p><p>With the flashlight shining on Luigi's head, the injury was much more visible as the plumber tried to shield his eyes from the blinding light. "Y-yeah... I'll be okay." Though Luigi worries about the darkness within himself awoken from its slumber after being knocked on the head severely and was almost crushed. "A-after being smashed f-from that crate... I-I've felt something <em> dark </em> within me, had awoken... Wh-while I was out l-like a light..." Luigi whimpers, as he brings his knees close to his head and buries his face in them, shivering and feeling scared for what he would do himself to others, if the darkness comes to light again.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over to Luigi, Hatty kills the light down to a dimmer gleam before scooting closer to him and offering himself as an object of comfort. An arm wrapped about the shivering plumber, the captain tried to make amends for being so cold and uncaring for the man before. "I... don't know what it is, but... but I'm sorry for being so cold to you, my friend. I don't want either of us to be absorbed by that awfulness again."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi whimpers as he snuggles up close to Hatty as it helps him feel more comforted in the captain's arms. "<em>I-I hope i-it doesn't c-come out a-again...</em>" The green plumber felt better with Hatty's comfort as he takes a deep breath. "<em>A-at least, you're a sweet guy...</em>" He mutters out gentle words to Hatty to help him feel better as well.</p><p>After a little while, the two had been sitting against the crate to help themselves relax and feel much more calm. At least Luigi's own internal darkness had went into like a blip in his mental radar as well as Hatty's anger had gone away for the most part. Though the green plumber was getting tired again, but not because of internal head injury, but mentally exhausted from being sad and scared as his head starts to slump a bit on Hatty's shoulder and closes his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Pinching the bridge of his nose and at his eyes, Hatty managed to pull himself together a bit more. Seeing that Luigi was collapsing, he knew that he had to get him <em> and </em> the provisions back down to the dock... but how? He was afraid of leaving the packages here in the event if they were tampered with, but he sure as Hell wasn't going to leave Luigi behind! Though, he then looked to Anubis. "... pup, do you think you can protect these packages while I bring Luigi down to the medical bay back in the dock?" "<em>Ark-ark!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>What Hatty didn't know is that Luigi had gotten most of the MREs from the destroyed crate, but it wouldn't be enough for now since there's multiple crates filled with them. Though, the green stache fell asleep completely as he snores a bit; hinting that he's alright at least while his head is resting on the captain's shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Hoisting Luigi up into his arms, Hatty looked over the several crates that were mostly unmarked. It'll be an <em> ache </em> to see which ones contain the packages and which do not, but it would be worth it in order to figure out which is which now.</p><p> </p><p>As Hatty leaves the bilge to get back to the loading docks while carrying Luigi in his arms, several ghosts and boos fly by the hallways, but luckily the green plumber's snoring wasn't too loud to cause their attention to the two heroes. Though Hatty had-to find a pixelator television nearby before any of the ghosts or boos, especially Cerbergiest to find them before reaching one of the nearest teleportation devices.</p><p> </p><p>He had to pause and figure out <em> where </em> that pixelator was and get Luigi there. He couldn't abandon his station, so he had to drop Luigi off and return promptly. Ah, the rec room was home to one of those devices, and he remembered <em> exactly </em> how to get there from the bilge. Though, as he ventured, he felt uneasy. Not because of the haunting, but like there was a weight in his liver... something shifted and became like lead that tied around the throbbing sinew and pulled it taut. Passing a broken mirror, Hatty looked through it... if he hadn't stumbled back to double check what he'd just seen, he could've sworn he saw his own reflection warping.</p><p> </p><p>The broken mirror had a secret purpose, but it would involve Luigi's GameBoo Advance SP which has a built-in camera. Though, the broken mirror showed a few ghosts run on by behind Hatty as one of the boos notice the captain with the sleeping plumber in his arms and stops on by, giving a slight tap on his shoulder. Once Hatty turns around to face it, the boo releases a few small blue orbs and quickly flies into the mirror behind Hatty, making the mirror invisible! As if the boo <em> knows </em> what the hidden purpose the mirror can do as it laughs maniacally.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty didn't even get a chance to get a better look, but he stopped and stared at the wall. Gently propping Luigi up against the wall behind him, the captain turned and flicked on his darklight to where he thought he'd see the mirror. No... left? No... a little to the right? Ah- there it was! Illuminating it back up, he could see that it was indeed a mirror that glimmered <em> strangely</em>. Weird...</p><p> </p><p>Once the mirror had shown itself and the boo ran off, the blue orbs pop out from the mirror, floating around the captain as it tries to keep itself from being vacuumed, but it was a mute point as all of the orbs get sucked in from Hatty's poltergust; which made the mirror fully visible again. While doing so, the GameBoo Advance SP popped out from Luigi's pocket as he sat on the floor, conked out.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the device, Hatty picked it up and noticed the nulled battery life. Shoot, this wasn't good. Turning back to the mirror, he noticed how it glimmered and seemed to <em> glow </em> at Luigi's presence. Pulling the plumber up once more, it glistened far more proudly with eagerness. There was something significant about this mirror... What was the purpose of this unusual reflector?</p><p> </p><p>The GameBoo Advance SP blips a couple times as Hatty opens the lid up to view the camera pointing to the mirror... Nothing is different compared to seeing through the screen and just by naked eye. Though, the captain accidentally pushes a button on the device which scans the mirror. Once scanned, the reflection in the mirror twists counter-clockwise and spins faster and faster as Hatty spins around at the same time alongside with blue streaks all around him as he vanishes from his spot, accidentally leaving Luigi behind... Whoops.</p><p>Where did Hatty go? Looks like he got teleported back to the loading docks in front of another mirror... Which surprised even the captain, as well as the crew mates that were there and saw the whole thing. After that whole experience, the GameBoo Advance SP's battery goes completely dead as it needs to be recharged.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly popping in and out of existence, Hatty dizzily wobbled in a small circle before falling to his knees. The world spun chaotically as the fluid in his ears came to settle as a few of the crew came to him. "Captain! Are you alright?" "Where did you come from? You just appeared..!" "<em>Waaaauh... uuhh... I... I-I don't know...</em>" Shaking his head, his expression went from confused to horrified. "<em>Fudge me!! Luigi!! </em> I left him there!!"</p><p> </p><p>"You left Luigi back where?" Kazu comes over to the captain and helps him up. "Why would you do that? Is he okay?" The ninja frowns, since he doesn't spot Luigi with him, or anywhere nearby. "If he's not, we need to go and get him before something happens to him."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Do you honestly think I meant to do that?! </em> I have <em> no </em> idea what happened!! I left him by the bilge, I was right on my way to the recreation hall when that infernal mirror sucked me up and spat me out back here!" Looking at the GameBoo Advance SP, the screen was that same green glow and he tried with mashing the buttons but to <em> no </em> avail. "<em>Son of a--</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With a loud sigh, Kazu crosses his arms. "Looks like we need to get him the hard way, or get the professor's teleporty device to get to the nearest spot of the bilge to get back there." He points to the professor's lab, as Gadd was oblivious of what happened to Luigi and kept on working in his lab. "Don't fret, we'll get Luigi back." The ninja pats Hatty's shoulder as he grabs the captain's arms and goes over to the lab.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Augh- </em> I had no idea that such a benign looking device would <em> hurl </em> me across the ship! Between a door that nearly crushed me like a fly, <em> a plethora </em> of specters and having to dodge between Cool Kid <em> and </em> Crispy, I don't know <em> how </em> much more of this I can take before <em> completely </em> losing my mind." Hatty grumbled out, his eyes looking less angry and more of <em> severely </em> exhausted.</p><p> </p><p>"With those ghosts here, it's no surprise of how hostile they are and what tricks they'll pull to slow our progress to help our crew mates and his family..." With a frown, he gets to the lab with Hatty. "Hey professor, we have a situation!" Kazu warns as Gadd turns around. "What's going on? Where's Luigi?" The professor questions while Hatty was here and Luigi was not.</p><p> </p><p>"He's back near the bilge, out cold! This stupid device whipped me around and put me back here without any warning!" He showed Gadd the device, pulling up his Poltergust. "I can't stay here and wait for answers, I need to go back and get him!" Without another moment, he turned and <em> ran </em> back to get his friend out of the proverbial jaws of terror.</p><p> </p><p>"W-wait!" Gadd tries to stop Hatty from running out, but wasn't able to do so. "Captain! Wait!" Kazu disappears within a puff of smoke and reappears in the same manner in front of Hatty to stop him from running away. "Don't run off! We're using that teleporty device that the professor has to get to that area faster!" Kazu was successful in stopping the captain as one of the rescued crew mates noticed him run off from the lab.</p><p> </p><p>"Captain, we've <em> never </em> seen you in such a titter before!" One of the rescued crew spoke out, finally able to voice their concerns with the man's... shift in behavior. "What's going on? You're not the impatient type!" "... nothing. It's just been very hair-raising."</p><p> </p><p>"Come on, let's get back to the lab!" The ninja grabs Hatty from the vacuum and drags him back to the lab. "Sorry about that, we need to get to the bilge as quickly as possible." "Sure, I'll get the pixelator to get to the nearest spot where the bilge would be." Gadd types onto the keyboard to direct the pixelator television nearest to the bilge. "Don't worry, Hatty. We'll get Luigi back. Just stay calm." The professor lays out some comforting words.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at the screen, Hatty was just hopeful that this would bring him there soon before <em> something </em> awful happened. What didn't help was that part of his memory of the bilge was still foggy... part of it was nothing but <em> red </em> and a crazed anger that flushed most recollection. "Whatever gets me back there quickly. I didn't realize the littlest and most benign thing would hurl me across the ship!"</p><p> </p><p>With that, Gadd activates the pixelator to teleport Kazu and Hatty through it to get the other end of it, nearest to the bilge. "Be safe out there!"</p><p>It didn't take long for Hatty and Kazu to reach the other end with the pixelator camera reforming the two in a small open rec room that was close to the bilge. Kazu landed onto the floor with a slight balance wavering but corrected himself, but Hatty... Well, he crash landed onto the floor on his face. Oh dear. The ninja goes to help Hatty up from the floor by grabbing his arm and pulling him up, "Come on, let's get going, don't have time to lose!" He worries about the green plumber as well as Hatty would be.</p><p> </p><p>Bouncing on the ground with a pained grown, Hatty took the ninja's hand with a huff, readjusting his vacuum before going along with the much more graceful and battle ready ninja who was on his toes at all hours. For one far more prepared for combat, Hatty was the one often fighting these specters... and when they turned to the near end of the bilge, he saw a <em> dastardly </em> sight.</p><p> </p><p>Just as when Hatty and Kazu get to where the mirror and Luigi was near the bilge entryway, the green plumber wasn't there and only his green hat was left behind! Uh oh... That isn't a good sign. Where would he have gone to? Until they heard something close by along with some noise of someone dragging something on the old carpeted floor. The two didn't hesitate to go find the source of that noise, and hoping it isn't what they <em> dread </em> as Kazu picks up Luigi's hat, since he doesn't like to leave special items like that behind.</p><p> </p><p>Hurrying ahead in the pack of two, Hatty was the first to spot that Boo dragging the unconscious plumber away. While Boocille was trying her best to rouse the man's consciousness for it to be a vain effort, Hatty scowled as he turned his light onto the specter and charged it with its telltale hum. "<b><em>YOU!!</em></b>" <em> Woah</em>... that wasn't the captain's usual voice. That was... <em> scary</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Kazu notices what's happening with Luigi being dragged away by one of his legs and Hatty's outburst and gets angry himself. He doesn't hesitate to use a smoke screen in front of himself to disappear, and reappears in the same manner in front of the boo. "Where do you think you're going?!" Kazu blurts out to try to stop the boo from running off.</p><p>Once he boo realized that it was trapped between Kazu and Hatty, it had other ideas as he releases the blue orbs at the ninja, surprising him as he tries to dodge the orbs; only for the boo to scurry away as he was distracted and dragged the poor unconscious plumber with, much faster this time and goes past the ninja with a sinister and manic cackling laugh. "<em>Just wait until King Boo has caught his prize!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the vacuum clutched hard in his grip, Hatty stormed after the Boo with grit teeth. While he wasn't as quick or fleet as the ninja, by <em> Hell </em> was he going to let this fiend abscond with Luigi! Rushing after him, his eyes started to glow once more... first, slightly greened... but the more he ran, the <em> brighter </em> they became before they were <em> piercing </em> through the darkness. Finding the Boo looking between two ends of a hallway, his voice was in a scream that sounded like that of a demon ready to take out someone's throat. "<b><em>I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET CRAWLING BACK FROM THE PITS OF HELL, SPIRIT!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>The boo flies even faster from Hatty after hearing his outburst, but just as when Kazu tried to get the orbs away as it flies to a nearby door and makes the door go invisible, the ninja realizes that the boo had escaped being trapped as he digs out his ninja stars and throws a few of them past Hatty and past the boo; luckily one of them struck the pant leg from Luigi and made the boo let go of the unconscious plumber. Holding onto the small fabric of Luigi's overalls, it quickly runs off without his prize and scared of Hatty going to catch him in such an angered state.</p><p>Kazu felt scared himself from Hatty's outburst and anger, as he tried to catch up to him after he was able to stop the boo from fleeing with Luigi. "Hatty..."</p><p> </p><p>The man's vision was tunneled... all he could see in that moment was making that Boo <em> pay </em> dearly for <em> disobeying </em> him! Snarling and panting out, his gaze fell to Kazu... and his eyes that shone like the full moon broke through the darkness of the ship.</p><p> </p><p>"Hatty! Snap out of it!" Kazu grabs Hatty's shoulder and shakes the captain a bit. The ninja felt scared of how angry he was and his eyes glowed in the dark. "You're scaring me... Don't make this go any farther than it should be... We stopped that ghost from taking that plumber away."</p><p> </p><p>Blinking, he stared at the ninja blankly with the glow starting to abate... looking down, his eyes were <em> horrified </em> with pinprick pupils and a shake in his body. "<em>... it... t-that keeps happening, I... I don't know what that is! I... I-I think I'm just going crazy! I... a-all I could see is red around my vision, and all that went through my mind was... ... b-bad...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know what it is either, but it sounds like you're not going crazy..." Upon letting go of Hatty, Kazu goes over to unconscious Luigi and kneels down next to him as he gently brushes his hand over the side of his head in hopes that'll wake him... But that was to no avail as there was no response from the plumber. "Come on, we need to get Luigi back to the lab at least."</p><p> </p><p>Going to the sleeping plumber, Hatty hoists the man up into his arms. He <em> had </em> to calm down, not let himself get so angry that he forgets that Luigi needs help first and foremost! He's the one with the most experience with fighting these ghosts, and he couldn't risk losing him.</p><p> </p><p>After Hatty picks up Luigi in his arms, both Kazu and the captain go back to where they came, but hopes to find the pixelator television close by to get back to the lab... Though the door close by that went invisible has the pixelator television in it which they don't know just yet; which the ninja remembers the door being there. "W-wait! Hold on..." Kazu stops in front of the invisible door. "That door was here before... Can you get that door visible again?"</p><p> </p><p>"Oh... I can! Ah, if you could hold Luigi for a moment, please..? I can get it on again." He looked back to his vacuum nozzle and couldn't quite release Luigi from his grasp without letting him fall or get abducted again.</p><p> </p><p>Kazu nods as he gently takes the plumber out of Hatty's arms and holds Luigi in his, just to make sure that he's in good hands as the captain does his thing. "Gee... I wonder what happened for Luigi to lose consciousness like this..." The crafty ninja ponders while holding the unconscious Italian plumber close; realizing that he's much smaller than what he knows, since he thought that Luigi would have been just as tall as the captain, but nope!</p><p> </p><p>Turning the dark light to the door, Hatty revealed one of the tricks of the gadgets that brought back certain things into a physical form. The door reappeared upon contact with the dark light and reformed into solidity. "He took a nasty knot to the head... luckily, we found something to remedy his injuries, but he's still out of it."</p><p> </p><p>Once the door has become visible, the orbs fly out from the door around the two as it keeps the door from being completely solidified and all of them get sucked in from Hatty's vacuum to make the door go completely solid again.</p><p>Upon closer look, Kazu notices the injury on the side of Luigi's head. "Poor guy... He must have done something to have this nasty bruise... But from what you're saying is that, his injury was worse than this?" The ninja questions, tilting his head and thinks of how bad the injury was.</p><p> </p><p>"Initially, yes. But defeating certain ghosts, we get these little hearts that just... appear! They crop up into existence and they can heal us of injuries. But, they're fewer and far between than we'd like, which is <em> deeply </em> troubling considering that we get injured frequently." Going towards the rec room now, Hatty was starting to feel <em> off</em>. A throbbing in his own head sided with a harder beating in his neck. "... I think I might be getting a migraine."</p><p> </p><p>"Gee... I feel bad for him who has-to deal with this mess." After the door has been completely solid again, Kazu clumsily opens the door and looks inside to see what's in the room while still holding Luigi in his arms. It was a small room, but it had the pixelator television on the wall. "Hey, is that the teleporty device on that wall over there?" Kazu points to the pixelator television on the wall with his head as he walks inside.</p><p> </p><p>"I believe so... there's a few that are scattered. We may have gone in a different direction than towards the rec room, but... eh, it's a room that has this device none the less. I'm just glad we've found it." His voice sounded <em> exhausted </em> now, like his spirit was crushed and mind was starting to fog. Staring at the device, he carefully pressed down on the screen to begin the process of returning to the lab <em> with </em> Luigi in tow.</p><p> </p><p>Kazu follows Hatty with the pixelator television as it activates, sending Hatty and the ninja along with Luigi back to the lab, hoping to have the two heroes recover back in the loading docks after the whole ordeal in the bilge.</p><p>--------------------------------------- </p><p>As soon as the two heroes and Kazu teleported back to the loading docks, the boo was lurking from afar and was hearing what's going on while still holding the piece of cloth from Luigi's overalls. It flies off to see King Boo and Lord Maya about his findings and let them know what's happening. </p><p>"<em>K-King Boo! L-Lord Maya..! I-I've gotten s-some news...</em>" The boo informs the two of what has happened as it shows off the piece of clothing it has in its stubby mits. "<em>I-I was almost a-able to get th-that plumber back here wh-while he was out c-cold... B-but that captain and that ninja st-stopped me...</em>" The boo was scared of what the two would do to the boo. King Boo wasn't too thrilled that the boo failed in getting Luigi back where they were while unconscious; though Maya kept his cool from hearing the information.</p><p> </p><p>The King was <em> severely </em> displeased, floating to his subject and held him at the cheeks. "<em>Tell me, squire, how could you have failed when the man was unconscious?! How could you possibly fail me when you're fighting against some ponytailed wannabe cabin boy?! What could've gotten you this frayed! And it had better be a damned good reason as to why you've come here, shaking like a whelp!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The small boo got really scared from King Boo as Maya tries to push the king back from getting really close to the small boo. But when trying to hide its face and shake in fear, it shows that the boo had the piece of fabric of Luigi's overalls; which surprised the two. This intrigued the demon lord as he flies over to the boo and gently takes the fabric from the boo. "<em>Ahh yes, what a nice find~</em>" Instead of being hostile to their minions, Maya pats the boo on its head gently. "<em>This can help us </em> <b> <em>immensely</em></b><em>~ Heh heh.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yet... how could you have been scared of that... that pompous little tart of a man? He's as soft as a baby's stool and is as jelly filled as a Danish. What could possibly be scary about that man?</em>" King Boo managed to find his center, thanks to Lord Maya, scratching around his crown in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-It's just... His eyes w-were glowing green a-and... His e-explosive anger...</em>" The boo wiggles its little tail. "<em>A-also, I've h-heard th-that in the bilge... S-something happened with L-Luigi... H-his personality ch-changed a-after getting crushed f-from that crate and b-broke free... S-something m-more... Menacing... A-and wasn't scared w-whatsoever...</em>" The boo whimpers as he floats back.</p><p> </p><p>"... <em> strange. Both of their personalities flipped on a dime...</em>" King Boo thought hard on this, but couldn't recall anything that could make the plumber change. The captain was just as equally an enigma to him. "<em>... we'll have to keep tabs on this behavior. If his eyes glow... he could perhaps have some sort of power about him.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, we do need to keep tabs on them to see if this happens again.</em>" Maya was completely surprised of Luigi's change of behavior, but Hatty's dark power within is growing at a fast rate each time he gets angry. "<em>It can be that that captain has some sort of power, but we don't know what.</em>" Though the demon lord knows <em> exactly </em> where that power is coming from, he doesn't want to mention it to <em> anyone. </em> The boo runs off after Maya pats its head gently and dismisses it to help it feel better.</p><p> </p><p>Tapping his chin with a pondering look, King Boo paced back and forth. "... <em> so, if that annoying little green plumber has an ace up his sleeve, how can we counter that? What sort of ability could we use to get under that seemingly uncrackable façade if it resurfaces? Something that could shake the seemingly unshakable...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>That's a good question, though probably this fabric can help us..~</em>" Maya can sense the dark personality unlocked from Luigi's mind, as he uses his dark abilities to engulf the fabric into a burst of dark red flame and drops it to the floor. Once on the floor, it takes a few seconds for it to form into a dark illusion of Luigi himself, but having much darker aura around him, having red glowing eyes, doesn't have his signature hat on and doesn't have a vacuum attached to the dark illusion. "<em>Probably this can help crack that façade a little easier, while he's still vulnerable at this time..~ Heh heh~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ooh~, and what is this dastardly trick? This seems </em> <b> <em>promising</em></b><em>... very promising indeed! You must teach me how to utilize this trick... perhaps he could use such a means to dissect every last bit of evil in someone and use it against their own people. As for this... what do you make of Luigi's little... buddy here? You suppose that we could put some strings to this little puppet? Hmmhmmhmm..~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh, this </em> <b> <em>puppet</em> </b> <em> will help get that plumber's more menacing personality out... And it will help us gain control of him at the same time..~</em>" With a smirk, Maya snaps his fingers to make the dark illusion of Luigi disappear within a puff of smoke, and reappear to where the real Luigi is currently at. "<em>But not to worry, I'll make sure that only that dastard plumber will only see the puppet, even when everyone else is around..~</em>" With a huff, he crosses his arms as he floats around King Boo. "<em>Also, you'll learn soon enough of the powers and abilities I have, in order to overthrow that plumber and the captain... Heh heh~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Wonderful..~ I look forward to that moment greatly! When those insufferable plumbers are kneeling and then are no more! To bow before me before they are turned into nothing more than ashes! Then, there will be no more of this ghost fighting, no more of these petty little rebellions. No more hi-jinks to stop my plan of making the greatest Boo army and securing that Mushroom Kingdom as my </em> <b> <em>rightful</em> </b> <em> domain! Those uppity little princesses think they could bat their eyelashes and send their dogs after me... well, those dogs are about to get fixed! They won't know of these lovely little secrets until it's far too late..~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The two evil kings laugh maniacally as one more step into stopping the two heroes are coming, though they're quite oblivious of who's been watching over this whole undead situation and she isn't quite happy when the two heroes have their own dark battles that she didn't even know that existed from within themselves. Just hoping that their dark internal struggles don't take over and cause more havoc and worsen the balance between life and death...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Loss of Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After Hatty and Kazu brought back Luigi to the lab from the pixelator camera, they didn't hesitate to get the plumber to one of the makeshift beds and gently lay him down on it, hoping it'll help Luigi feel more comfortable while he's unconscious. The ninja puts the plumber's green hat on a small crate next to the bed. "I hope that he'll wake up soon, and I worry about that cute Boo fella hiding within him as well..." Kazu wonders how Boocille is taking all of this in, since she's been trying to wake him up internally, but she's also failing that task. It's as if the blow to the head had gotten worse since the heal from a ghostly heart, since it didn't heal him completely from the injury.</p><p> </p><p>"I do hope he rouses eventually as well... but I do believe those two need rest and for Luigi? The doctor ought to see him." However, the medics- with what they have- couldn't deduce the cause of this lapse in consciousness. It was most unusual to see someone without the telltale concussion signs to be out like that. Maybe he did just need rest?</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Boocille was doing all she could to get Luigi going, but was in a feint of frustration when she realized it was a vain attempt. However, the flustered emotion was swiftly replaced with growing apprehension as the darkness around her intensified.</p><p> </p><p>The darkness within Luigi's mind began to grow once more after realizing that the light-hearted and gentle counterpart had weakened from him losing consciousness for the third time, but not as quickly as the darkness tried to keep a low profile for now... That is, until it senses something from outside. </p><p> </p><p>After a long while, Hatty had been sleeping next to the bed after the failed multiple attempts to wake the sleeping plumber up as he gave up and just hoped and prayed for Luigi to wake up on his own.</p><p>During this time, the dark illusion of Luigi appears in front of the gentle sleeping plumber. "<em>Luigi... Wake up...</em>" The darker voice and one gentle brush on the side of his head wakes Luigi up. Upon opening his gentle, blue eyes and sitting up on the bed, he notices the dark illusion of himself and gets freaked out as he tries to scoot back away from it. "W-who are y-you..?" "<em>Do not be afraid, I'm here to help you...</em>" The dark illusion's demonic voice didn't help the matter, but it was gentle and <em> enticing</em>... "H-help me..? I-in wh-what way..?" Luigi whimpers as the dark illusion has come closer to the scared plumber. "<em>I can help you rescue your family, as well as the crew on this ship without any fear... And be the true hero that the Mushroom Kingdom needs...</em>" With those words, Luigi was more enticed of what the dark illusion was proposing. "I-I do want to h-help them... I-I can't leave them behind... I-I'd d-do <em> a-anything </em> t-to save them..." The green plumber looks down in sadness for a moment as he sees Hatty next to him sleeping, as the dark illusion lends out his hand when he looks back up. "<em>Then accept my proposal... Let me in your heart to help release that power from within and help you gain the unbreakable confidence to defeat those pesky ghosts, as well as King Boo...</em>" The green plumber pondered the idea as he heard the words from his dark illusion, since he wants to be strong and fight against the ghosts without the crippling fear...</p><p> </p><p>It took a bit of thought, but Luigi hesitantly lends out his own hand to the dark illusion and grabs hold; unknowingly accepting the proposal as it poofs into dark smoke. "<em>Good...</em>" This made Luigi jump after seeing the dark illusion turn into dark smoke, but the shock made the green plumber collapse back on the bed, having his chest glow bright through his clothing as the entry point opens up and the dark smoke forces its way inside completely; successfully adhering to the darkness within Luigi's mind and starts growing at an alarming rate. .oO( <em> Excellent... Now it's my turn to take control! Heh heh~ </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Once all this happened, Hatty woke up after he felt something <em> shift </em> on the bed, noticing that Luigi didn't move at all from where he was laid on the bed... Though something was <em> off</em>, but he doesn't know what yet.</p><p> </p><p>As the dark presence appeared within Luigi, Boocille could see it and <em> tried </em> to get to the sweet plumber. This person, this <em> thing</em>, was up to no good! It was out to harm Luigi, but she couldn't get to him... the darkness wrapped about her and pushed her further and <em> further </em> away... until she was <em> forced </em> out from Luigi just that evening. Left out in the bitter cold of the world, she looked about in a panic before hiding off... she was <em> completely </em> terrified and had no idea what had happened. All that she knew was that she had to hide away for her safety.</p><p> </p><p>When Boocille was forced out of Luigi, Hatty noticed her before she ran off, but the Italian plumber had finally woken up from his deep slumber. Opening his eyes, the colors weren't the baby blue it usually was, but more of a mix of grey and red as he sat up. "<em>I'm awake...</em>" His voice was a little darker than normal as he hops off the bed and grabs his poltergust G-00 and puts it on. "<em>I'm ready to go to free my family and your crew.</em>" This change... It's unsettling, as the green plumber didn't hesitate to try to leave the loading docks <em> alone </em> through the stairs; which Gadd advised against anyone to do, especially the two heroes. Luigi also left his hat behind, which it's unusual behavior for him, since he'll <em> never </em> leave it behind.</p><p> </p><p>Having been woken up by the shaking bed and seeing Boocille suddenly fly out of the plumber, the captain watched as Luigi rose in that darkened daze and sauntered off. And by <em> himself! </em> He was breaking the one cardinal rule: never go out on your own! Especially a <em> massive </em> ship that lost its floor plans to time. Looking about the room, Hatty noticed the small glow of Boocille's aura poking out from a nearby overturned crate.</p><p> </p><p>Hopping up and dropping down, he revealed the Boo hiding beneath it. "Boocille? What's going on? Why are you out of Luigi? You're supposed to be hiding." "<em>I know, but... s-something happened to Luigi! Something terrible..! I tried to stop it, but some sort of darkness pushed me out!</em>" Oh boy, this sounded <em> bad</em>...</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing the information, Maggie comes over to Hatty and Boocille with a concerned look. "Something terrible happened to him? This isn't good... We need to go and stop him before he wanders off and we can't find him!" Maggie lends out a hand to Boocille with a smile. "We'll get Luigi back, no matter the cost!"</p><p> </p><p>As they hurried to try to get to Luigi, he'd already left the docks. Seems he heard the lot readying up and he <em> bolted! </em> Now, it left them behind in a panic. "W-what the-- where's he-- why'd he--?!" "<em>Oh no..! I don't know what's going on with him, b-but it's bad..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Maggie gets worried about the green plumber before she grabs Luigi's hat before leaving the loading docks. "This isn't good..." Maggie frowns as she gives the green hat to Boocille. "We do need to find him before something <em> worse </em> happens to him."</p><p> </p><p>The little ghost's small hands held onto the brim, sadly massaging the brim. Hopefully she could get to put it back on its rightful owner again. "<em>I'm so worried about him.</em>" "Don't worry, Boocille, we'll get him back..! I <em> promise </em> you, we'll get him back. We just need to find him." Out from the woodworks came a frantic, excited barking. Ah, Anubis! "<em>Ark-ark!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the cute, dark ghost pup coming, Maggie got an idea. "Maybe this little one can help track Luigi down? Since we all leave scents..." Maggie points to the hat, since it has the scent of Luigi baked in.</p><p> </p><p>Dropping down, Boocille held the hat up to Anubis and allowed the puppy to sniff up his hat. Barking, the little specter ran in a circle before standing up on his hind legs. "He seems to understand!"</p><p> </p><p>"Go on, go find Luigi, little one!" Maggie encourages the small Anubis while petting him gently to follow the scent to track down Luigi. The scent was strong, as it led to a direction that <em> no one </em> went down as of yet, which leads to a much darker hallways in pitch black and would need the flashlight to see correctly.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ark-ark!</em>" Rushing ahead, the little specter led the way with Hatty and Boocille behind, though the Boo hesitated and looked back to Maggie. "<em>... I'm afraid to go with him. What if I get caught? How could I help anyone if I get captured?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Don't worry, if Luigi does capture you without realizing, you still have that special chip in one of your flowers from the professor; and that vacuum of his can't keep you in it as long as you still have that chip." Maggie said with a smile, though it didn't last. "Though I'm not so sure about other ghosts capturing you..."</p><p> </p><p>With the chip to her flower, she's indeed protected from the Poltergust, but it was the other ghosts she was worried about. "<em>... I don't think Mr. Hatty would want me hanging around in him. I'm positive that he has his own problems. I can stay invisible as long as I please, but I don't know what I can do for them... I can't simply leave them to their own devices, though. I'm so confused, I don't know what to do!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"If problems do arise and we're not able to protect you, don't hesitate to retreat and hide." Maggie pats Boocille on her head gently with her mitted hand. "I know you can hide well, and we'll try to make sure you successfully escape."</p><p> </p><p>Nodding softly, she small Boo speeds off in order to catch the few... all the while, Hatty was following Anubis who was <em> hot </em> on Luigi's trail, yapping excitedly.</p><p> </p><p>During this time, Luigi was in the pitch blackness of the hallways, as if he was leading to a special part of the ship that hasn't been explored yet. "<em>I need to... Contact them... Plan succeeding...</em>" It's like he's unknowingly being lured to somewhere <em> deadly </em> while he doesn't have his flashlight active as a few boos fly on by without a care and laughs; as if they <em> know </em> about Luigi being controlled by the two kings and the green plumber completely ignores them... Something was up, and not in a good way.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing as how the Boos didn't even bother with Luigi let everyone following know that <em> nothing </em> good was happening. "<em>Ark-arkark!</em>" Anubis tried to bark at the plumber, but his vocalizations seemed to fall on deaf ears! Hatty kept up after, seeing that Luigi was winding down a dark path that hasn't even been put on the map!</p><p> </p><p>The flashlight helped shine on where Luigi was going, but the green plumber notices the light behind him and stops in his tracks. "<em>Don't follow me... I'm on a mission...</em>" Quickly grabbing the nozzle and switching to the vacuum, he turns it on. While doing so, he generates a green fireball and lets it get sucked in before reversing the vacuum to the blower as he turns around and releases the same fireball back to the ones following him; surprising Hatty, Maggie and Boocille.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping at the sight, Hatty pulled the nozzle up while pulling away the now <em> horrified </em> Anubis, blasting the fireball away to prevent it from hurting anyone. "<em>What the Hell is wrong with you?!</em>" Hatty snapped at the plumber, his eyes beginning to yellow, turning that glowing green. Boocille gripped the captain at the shoulders, trembling. "<em>Don't let yourself get angry at him, we don't want him to get hurt!</em>" "<em>Yet that psychotic Guido had nearly roasted us alive!</em>" The pup whimpered and licked Hatty's chin, prompting the man to sigh out and relax. "... sorry, sorry."</p><p> </p><p>While Hatty was distracted from the fireball and was able to blast it away, Luigi grins while showing his unnatural eye colors- grey and red thanks to the flashlight shining on him. "<em>What's wrong with me?</em>" The green plumber huffs, as he raises his hand as it engulfs with green flame. "<em>I've finally got the confidence to rescue my family and your crew without any sort of help!</em>" What the captain and Maggie didn't know, the dark voice echoes through the hallways from Luigi's vocal cords... Boocille remembers it from deep within the plumber's mind and knows of who it is; but something's amiss from him as she remembers this path... Oh dear.</p><p> </p><p>Taking steps back, the group assumed a defensive position as Anubis whimpered fearfully. Hearing this voice, Boocille doubled back with a horrified shudder. "<em>T-that's that voice that was in him before... but... i-it isn't right! S-something's making it worse!</em>" Hatty scowled, seeing the plumber rush off. "That <em> idiot </em> is going to get himself killed!" "<em>W-what's worse, he's going right to where Lord Maya and King Boo are..!</em>" "<em>WHAT?! He's going to end up on a platter!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Maggie gasps in horror at what transpired, and is scared for what Luigi would do to himself after the green plumber turned back around and ran off. "We need to stop him before he gets to them!" Just as when she mentions, Jack Runningback and the newly released Crispy Exterior had finally caught up to the captain, Maggie, Anubis and Boocille. "We'll help catch the silly plumber from getting to them!" Jack Runningback quickly charges himself for a few seconds and bolts down the hallway, chasing him and catches up quickly enough to tackle Luigi to the floor. "<em>ACK!!</em>" "You're not going anywhere!" "<em>L-let go!</em>" Luigi struggles to get free from the big and strong crew mate that pinned him to the floor.... But The green-clothed lad had other ideas other than to stay put as he uses the burst function to knock Jack Runningback off of him, then bolts away after he got up.</p><p>Though while Jack Runningback was holding Luigi down, Crispy Exterior had charged up his wand with a magic spell and released it towards the plumber in high speed to catch up to him. Once the spell catches up to Luigi, it snatches his wrists and stops him in his tracks, yanking him back and making him fall back onto the floor. "<em>LET ME GO!!</em>" He flails as Crispy makes the spell tack to the floor to keep the Italian plumber stationary. "Not this time!"</p><p> </p><p>The group of Hatty's crew stood around him, many concerned, others seeming very unamused by his shift in behavior. Hatty seemed... to be borderlining. He was trying to breathe out, but he could <em> feel </em> his heart <em> pounding </em> . Like a drum made up of pure heat, it pounded and rocked through his ears as he could just feel an <em> impotent anger </em> that ripped through him. Boocille tried her best to keep him calm and centered. "<em>Mr. Hatty, please, don't..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Luigi... why on God's green Earth would you try to run into the maw of the beast?</em>" Hatty tried to stay calm about this. Between nearly being attacked by the man and his selfish, ridiculous act of running head long into danger, he could feel his body heating up. "<em>When you were the one who said that you wouldn't </em> <b> <em>abandon</em> </b> <em> anyone? When you were the one that suggested </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> stay and fight despite everything that I felt, to keep fighting? And yet you want to act out so hypocritically...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty's very <em> skin </em> started to vein up... but these were anatomically <em> inhuman </em> . They were <em> black </em> as they spread across his skin like a cancer. "<em>... that you would risk your life and leave us </em> <b> <em>stranded.</em> </b> <em> That you would rather damn the Earth to a limbo of unlife, and for what? Your pride, your </em> <b> <em>family</em></b><em>? Your "friends"?</em>" Hatty hissed out as this metamorphosis seemed to slow, but his eyes were glowing in conjunction with the veins that branched up his neck.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>How could you possibly call yourself a "hero" when you've nearly done the most foolish thing that could have easily </em> <b> <em>ended</em> </b> <em> your life in the most violent way? Then who would save your family? </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> wouldn't. I don't know them, hence... </em> <b> <em>I couldn't give less of a damn if they were suffering. Yet you would gladly throw away every opportunity to save my crew, my ship, and everyone aboard it?! You would rush directly to death?! What were you going to do once you got to them, exactly? HUH?! ANSWER ME, YOU USELESS CRETIN!!</em></b>" Hatty gripped Luigi by the overalls, shaking him, his head knocking against the floor.</p><p> </p><p>"<b><em>YOU WOULD DAMN US ALL!! YOU WOULD YOURSELF GIVE MAYA AND KING BOO THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!! YOU MAY AS WELL PUT THE TIARA OF THE PRINCESSES ON HIS HEAD YOURSELF, YOU USELESS, PATHETIC, WEAK LITTLE MAN!! YOU'RE NO HERO!! YOU'RE JUST A SCOUNDELOUS COWARD WHO WOULD RUN INTO THE WOODWORK, SHUDDER LIKE A BITCH, PISSING YOURSELF LIKE AN INFANT, AND CRY FOR YOUR MOTHER!! IF I DIDN'T HAVE AS MUCH OF RESTRAINT, I'D DRAG YOU INTO THE WATERS BY ROPE AND USE THAT OBNOXIOUS PUSHBROOM UNDER YOUR LIP TO CLEAN THE BARNACLES OFF OF THE SHIP!!</em></b>" Hatty's shouts made <em> all </em> go quiet. Boos sank down in terror, the booming causing all else to go deaf... and <em> everyone </em> was <em> horrified</em>, seeing the captain in this discordant thunderclap of rage. "<em>... Mi... mi... mis... mister H-Hatty...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt his head getting knocked on the floor a few times after being shaken from the captain, but was surprised to see how Hatty had screamed in his face while the magic cuffs were holding his wrists above his head, but Luigi just smirks and chuckles after all of that. "<em>That's the whole point...</em>" His voice became more dark just as a split second, the dark illusion showed its face through the sweet plumber; which surprised everyone as they finally realized, this wasn't Luigi at all. It was something far darker, controlling the sweet and loving plumber that the darkness within had adhered to once it grasped his soul.</p><p> </p><p>"..." Hatty was shocked to see that, and some of the crew proclaimed. "Something's got a hold of poor Luigi!" "We gotta get him back to the lab before he does something really bad."</p><p> </p><p>"Captain! We need to get back to the lab! We can't stay!" Maggie yells out to him while staying behind with Boocille and Crispy as Jack comes over to the captain and Luigi and grabs the plumber out of the captain's hands while holding him like an American football. "<em>LET GO!!</em>" The dark Luigi flails again while the magic cuffs were holding his wrists together so he couldn't use his poltergust at the time, but Jack covers his mouth to keep him quiet. "Enough! You're coming back with us, whether you like it or not!" "<em>MMMMPPPPHHH!!</em>" The dark plumber was angry but wasn't able to break free from Jack's grasp.</p><p> </p><p>Ensuring that Luigi wasn't able to get free, Hatty took the other's legs under his arm and held them firm as they continued back to the lab. This was for his own good, with Boocille following along. Getting back to the loading docks, the doctor was <em> both </em> concerned about Luigi and Hatty... especially the plumber, who seemed completely out of his guff.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as Jack places Luigi onto a gurney in the medical wing after getting back to the loading docks, all of the crew, Gadd and the toads noticed of what's happening and get scared as Maggie and Crispy didn't hesitate to hold the poor plumber down with straps and the magic cuffs as Kev comes around as well as Gadd coming out of the lab to come over. "<em>UNHAND MEE!!</em>" Luigi screams out in a dark and sinister voice as his eyes are glowing more red and tries to flail about to get free; but isn't succeeding. Without a moment to waste, the doc administers an anesthetic into the raging plumber's neck.</p><p>"<em>I'LL MAKE SURE YOU---... You....</em>" The dark plumber starts feeling tired quickly when the anesthetic starts taking hold as he slumps over and falls asleep, finally having the crew let go of him, but keeping the magic cuffs and the straps to hold him down, in case he wakes up. "That'll keep him at bay for now." Jack huffs as he crosses his arms.</p><p> </p><p>"That'll keep him down... but how on God's green Earth do we <em> rectify </em> this?" Hatty looked between the doctors to the now unconscious Luigi. Though, Gadd and a few others noticed the <em> darkened </em> veins that branched up Hatty's neck and across some of his face. "... enough with Luigi, what about the captain?" One of the crew spoke.</p><p> </p><p>Gadd had noticed what transpired with the green plumber as well as the captain while Kev was tending to Hatty with the crew worried about the captain. The toads worry about the sweet plumber they know, "It seems that this isn't our typical problem with ghosts we're dealing with." The professor hums while thinking a bit. "How did this start?" He asks Boocille as Gadd looks up to her while she's still holding onto Luigi's hat.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-it started after... after Luigi got knocked in the head.</em>" Boocille began. "<em>I tried to figure out what it was... it was like another part of him that was hidden? But, then later... something came to him... something really dark, really bad. I-I think it was either King Boo or Lord Maya up to something. T-they might've been trying to get him killed..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm..." Gadd ponders from the story Boocille was saying as he notices the bump on Luigi's head while pacing back and forth. "It seems that King Boo and Maya fella figured out at the time of his utmost weakness and took advantage of Luigi while he was still out." He stops and looks up to the cute boo and takes the green hat gently from her. "And his other, darker personality had come out after being crushed from that crate, I assume?"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yes. He was out of it, a few of the other Boos fled and must've told King Boo about it... I tried to make that part stop, b-but it's too strong...</em>" Boocille shuddered and was promptly comforted by one of the crew. All the while, Hatty was being seen by the other doctor. "... I don't know what this could be..."</p><p> </p><p>Kev was completely puzzled as to why Hatty looks so <em> different</em>, but he felt worried about him. "Captain, h-have you've been getting angry a lot recently..?" The doc asked, since he remembers Hatty never getting angry so easily lately.</p><p> </p><p>"I... w-well, yes. But, what's going on? Why are you so shocked looking? You look like you've seen something <em> terrible</em>." He didn't know? It was mostly isolated to his face and neck, granted. He didn't even <em> see </em> his own eyes yet, which is going to be a <em> sobering </em> sight.</p><p> </p><p>Upon grabbing the mirror, Kev shows Hatty what's been happening to him, each time he gets angry to the point it is showing through and visible to everyone around him. "T-take a look..."</p><p> </p><p>Looking himself in the mirror, he was <em> finally </em> able to see his twisted visage. Gasping, he ran his fingers along the veins and looked into his own glowing eyes. Licking his fingers, he tried to wipe away the rooting darkness that wrapped around his neck, thinking it was merely dirt. But, alas, it was not. Starting to panic, he looked about, seeing everyone's equally puzzled and scared looks. "W-what is this?"</p><p> </p><p>"W-we don't know, to be honest with you..." Kev felt completely clueless, but had figured out his anger is making whatever Hatty has, worse. "B-best to try not to get anymore angry... Probably would get much worse when you do and as time progresses..." Kev gulps as he hands the mirror to the captain.</p><p>During this time, Gadd had come up with an idea to separate the darkness that's grasping onto Luigi's soul. "I have an idea! Bring Luigi to my lab." The professor orders Jack Runningback to unlatch the straps and picks the unconscious plumber up and goes over to the lab. This peaked curiosity to a couple crew mates as well as the captain as they followed suit.</p><p> </p><p>Undoing the restraints and bringing the plumber over to the extraction machine as per the request of the doctor, everyone seemed confused as to what he was planning. "Will... will this hurt him?" Hatty asked, his genuine kindness one again shining through the darkness that clouded his mind and made for a throbbing headache.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, in order to get this darkness out of him, this is the best way I know." Gadd quickly gets up on his chair and types up code on the computer to reverse the extractor machine, not corrupt anyone that passes through it and special information of when detected, would rip the darkness out of one person. After finishing, the professor turns around and presses a button on his chair to get the extractor to activate and accepts anyone willing or not so willing to go through it. "There, it's ready. I hope this works."</p><p>Jack Runningback nods as he carries Luigi over to the machine, he tosses the unconscious plumber through it, swallowing him whole in an instant. It didn't take long for him to travel through the tubes and into the ghost vault. Luigi had transformed into a ghost himself just like the crew mates that hadn't been captured yet, with <em> one other </em> that came with him; the dark version of Luigi had separated from the sweet and original plumber. Gadd had rigged the ghost vault to isolate Luigi and his dark doppelganger from the other ghosts and boos in the ghost vault as the professor brings up the screen of where the two are.</p><p> </p><p>"... did... did it work?" One of the crew sheepishly squeaked out, seeing the plumber freed from the machine post extraction. While he was still unconscious, it was unclear if he was freed from whatever force nearly drove him to mania and almost got him <em> killed </em>.</p><p> </p><p>That is, until the ghostly dark doppelganger shows up on screen just to the side of the ghost of Luigi as he finally starts to wake up. "<em>Uuhghh... M-my head...</em>" The sweet plumber says in a daze as his voice echoes, having his hand on one side of his face but when he opens his blank but blue eyes, he notices that there's metal all around him. "<em>Wh-what's going on?! Wh-where am I?!</em>" Upon looking around, he felt scared as he doesn't know what's happening; just as when he notices <em> himself, </em> semi-transparent like a ghost and having a ghost tail in place of his lower extremities. "<em>W-what happened to me?!</em>" He then freaks out and tries to find a way to get out, but to no avail as he gets to the plexiglass window with a loud thud; but after realizing that he couldn't escape, he looks out and notices Boocille just outside of the vault in front of the plexiglass window. "<em>Wh-why am I-I-a in here..?</em>" The ghostly plumber asks quietly to Boocille with a soft whimper.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty looked <em> paler </em> than Luigi now, seeing that he was nothing more than a specter. Boocille flew over to Luigi, but was held back between the plexiglass window and the metal surrounding the vault and the plumber himself. "<em>Mr. Luigi, i-it's alright..! Something bad happened... y-you're okay, but... one of them, I don't know who- Maya or Boo- must've done something to you. That darkness within you... some kind of split personality I think? They found out that you had it and they tried to turn you into some sort of self destructive parody of who you are. You nearly ran right into their laps and nearly got killed!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt scared, as he backed off from the plexiglass and held his arms against himself as he whined after hearing what had happened to him. "<em>Wh-why me..?</em>" He says to himself as he looks around... That's when he noticed this dark doppelganger close by. "<b><em>WAAAHHHH!!</em></b>" That made the sweet ghostly plumber back off quickly and slam himself near the small plexiglass window while the camera was right next to the plexiglass and saw the whole thing. Luigi felt a little dizzy as he shook his head a bit. Yep, the true sweet and cowardly plumber is back! Well... As a ghost for now as a few of the crew snicker quietly a bit and Gadd laughs from Luigi's klumziness. "<em>Th-that's... My d-dark s-side..?</em>" He asks in a serious, yet worried tone with his voice cracking in fear as he floats over to his dark doppelganger; just as it wakes up and opens his eyes, making Luigi freeze in place and not wanting to get any closer.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, it is... I don't know what it is, b-but it seems to be a very old part of you. A-a part that may have been around for ages, perhaps far before even this.</em>" Boocille spoke, having a bit of experience since she was residing within part of Luigi's subconscious. "<em>I don't know what it's true intentions are, b-but it was manipulated by both of </em> <b> <em>them</em> </b> <em> very easily...</em>" </p><p> </p><p>The dark copy of Luigi's eyes opened and focused on him, scowling softly. "<em>Consider me that, if you may. But you'll come to find I'm less of a menace, more of an ally.</em>" "<em>Ally? Then why would you take to nearly getting your host killed? Couldn't you fight that?</em>" "<em>You think it's easy to fight a conjoining force, don't you?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The dark doppelganger looked <em> vastly </em> different compared to their clothing; with black jumpsuit and green scarf around his neck instead of navy blue overalls and green shirt. The blank but grey eyes show the dark side of Luigi - Mr. L, but the red portions of his eyes were showing the dark illusion woven completely into the dark copy; though neither Luigi nor Mr. L are wearing their respective hats. "<em>B-but... Why would you... W-want to take me-- us, to them..? W-we weren't ready t-to f-face them...</em>" Luigi didn't want to move from his spot as Mr. L came towards him and floated around closely as the green and gentle plumber kept track of his dark doppelganger.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>It's because you don't have that sort of gall to ever face them! Look at yourself now! You're quivering like a coward, backed into the corner as though I truly am a threat to you! We were trapped under their control... I couldn't fight it, so I wanted to end their reign of tyranny. You want to cut around the corners, saving complete strangers that could easily drop you off in the middle of the fidget sea without a second thought! Especially after what that ponytail wearing little phlegm wad yelled in our face.</em>" The darker entity had a stone cold, lucid face... he wasn't joking.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi couldn't recall Hatty screaming in his face from earlier, but sounded like his dark side had gone through that. "<em>B-but... Th-they are m-much m-more powerful th-than b-before... Th-they could h-have e-easily p-put u-us i-into a p-portrait, o-or <strong>worse</strong>...</em>" The light and sweet plumber whimpers as he covers his face and head with his arms from his dark side barking at him, after hearing Mr. L saying about who his light and caring personality is - being scared and cowardly when facing threats to himself and others. "<em>A-at least... B-being scared a-and cowardly... H-helps us s-survive d-deadly threats th-that w-we can't o-overcome...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh, really? Does it? Or does it cause us to freeze up and suffer blow after blow. What happens when you scream? It attracts more danger. What happens when you freeze up? You're a sitting duck. You may as well paint a target on your nose. What happens when you rely on others too much? You get backstabbed before you know it. You're a revolting coward, you are. You doubt your own strength when you know that your elder brother would be </em> <b> <em>dead</em> </b> <em> without you. He's a fool and a pompous ne'er-do-well who relies on his own name to keep himself in relevancy within an entire kingdom despite his own blundering rescue attempts. He saves a princess? Whoop-de-doo, he gets a parade and medals and recognition. You save two princesses, your brother, and your little friends? </em> <b> <em>Nothing</em></b><em>. You rely on others far too much, and thus, we get nothing in return. It's a lion's portion share that we're forced to endure in lieu of us being far greater! Greater heroes than Mario... he knows that he's useless with you. </em> <b> <em>USELESS!!</em> </b> <em> Yet, you won't listen to the voice of reason. You're as deaf as they all are...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt broken and sad after hearing those bold words towards him, since he actually <em> cares </em> for his older twin brother as well as the princesses and the toads that live in the mushroom kingdom, but he spoke up after being yelled at. "<em>I-I do care about them!</em>" He yells out with spectral tears streaming down his cheeks, "<em>I-I don't just s-sit there a-and g-get hurt w-when fighting! I-I don't want to g-get hurt, s-so I run away!</em>" This outburst and seeing the tears emboldens the dark doppelganger, sensing weakness from his light and sweet counterpart. "<em>I-I'd r-rather w-want to s-stay s-safe th-than r-run into danger w-without b-being p-prepared!</em>" Those words help let Mr. L know that what he said to the sweet plumber was semi-true, "<em>A-Also, I-I'm not u-useless! N-not w-without...</em>" Luigi stops himself, since he was about to say something that his dark side would grin and come even close to his face.</p><p>With the ghost vault being an echo chamber; Gadd, Boocille and Hatty overhears the whole conversation with Luigi and his dark doppelganger, though something wasn't right when the two argue.</p><p> </p><p>"Gadd, this isn't right! There has to be a way to make them stop, I don't like the look in that dark one's eyes! He's up to something bad..." The captain could see that something awful was brewing, something <em> terrible </em> in fact.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ohh? Useless without, what exactly? Relying on so many people? Your game of chicken instead of standing and fighting like a man? You're </em> <b> <em>spineless</em></b><em>, Luigi. No wonder why you're </em> <b> <em>forgotten</em></b><em>. You envy your brother, you </em> <b> <em>hate</em> </b> <em> the success your brother has, all because he's everything you're not... but </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> am. Yet you are to deny me? You reject what can make you so much stronger? You pitiful whelp. Look at you, tearing up like a child being told off. You know how </em> <b> <em>meaningless</em> </b> <em> your struggles are without me. You </em> <b> <em>need</em> </b> <em> me to make you better, make you stronger... or... maybe... </em> <b> <em>I'm better off without you.</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>It took a bit, but Luigi gathered the courage to punch Mr. L in the face to get away from him after he got too close. "<em>I-I'd-a rather b-be w-without you th-than l-let you control b-both of us..! K-knowing th-that y-you're s-still b-being m-manipulated f-from them a-as we s-speak!!</em>" That punch must have set the dark doppelganger off; but it was an indication that in reality, Luigi couldn't be without his dark self and what sweet plumber said to him was a complete lie... Except for being manipulated part.</p><p>After hearing the plea from Hatty, Gadd turns around to his computer and starts typing on it, in hopes of doing something to keep them apart, as the professor can sense what the dark side is planning. "I'm on it!"</p><p> </p><p>As the doctor started to type away, Mr. L scowled and <em> jumped </em> onto Luigi, returning the punishing blows. "<em>You are </em> <b> <em>nothing</em> </b> <em> without me!! You're nothing more than a coward! You'll be completely helpless without me and all you'll ever be is a burden to others with your cowardice and reliance on others to pick up the pieces!</em>" "<em>Oh, stop it! Oh no, stop it, you two!</em>" Boocille begged through the glass, but couldn't pass through due to her chip. It prevented <em> any </em> interactions with the devices Gadd created.</p><p> </p><p>While Gadd gets the extractor to eject instead of absorb, he tries to get only Luigi out of the ghost vault, but there was an error that pops up on the screen as neither of them were able to leave it through the machine. This sets Gadd into panic and tries to do something within the ghost vault in hopes of separating the two before something <em> worse </em> happens as they fight.</p><p>While Luigi and his dark kin was fighting against each other and tries to defend himself from the first few blows on him, "<em>I-I'd r-rather be a-a coward a-and run a-away th-than t-to face th-thr--</em>" Luigi was cut off as Mr. L delivers one strong blow to Luigi's head, he gets knocked back and felt dizzy a bit. As he recovers, Mr. L is already close to the kind and loving plumber and grabs him by the neck. "<em>L-let go...</em>" Luigi whimpers, as he's in a vulnerable position from his dark doppelganger as he grabs his arms in hopes to pull him off.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille's little arms pounded on the window, crying out frantically. "<em>No, please stop it! Stop, they're going to destroy each other!</em>" All the while, the doppelganger smirks wickedly. "<em>You know that no matter what you do, you'll never escape me!! You can't exist without me, you would turn into nothing but dust! You'll become a personality-less husk, a lobotomized idiot!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Soon as those harsh words were muttered out from Mr. L, the sweet plumber felt the darkness starting to merge back together with him. Luigi tries to pry his dark doppelganger off of him, but the darkness is getting him weaker by the second. "<em>N-no... P-please... S-stop...</em>" His desperate plea went on deaf ears, as the dark side puts more effort into merging with the light one. It didn't take long for Luigi to lose consciousness after enough of the darkness had successfully merged within the sweet and kind plumber.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille continued to pound her tiny hands against the glass with a panicked whimper. "<em>Nooo..! No, no, leave him alone..!</em>" Her cries were ignored as the darker side of Luigi merged fully with the other specter. "<em>Doctor, please, tell me you can do something..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>On the screen, Gadd had seen the whole thing as they saw Mr. L and Luigi merge back together completely. The professor had-to think of something and quickly as he types more on the keyboard. "I'm trying the best I can!" After the merge, Luigi wakes up again, this time with the grey and red eyes like before as Mr. L and the dark illusion had taken over his own specter. Realizing that he was inside the ghost vault, he charges at the plexiglass at high speed in such rage, but slams himself on it; making him get dizzy for a moment before shaking his head. That noise had startled everyone that heard that noise and Luigi kept trying to break out by ramming into the plexiglass, but it was strong enough to withhold the most powerful specters. "<em>LET ME OUT!!</em>" Luigi screamed out with his darker voice that came back as well as a dark aura around him.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh no, what do we do?! What can we do?</em>" Boocille looked about helplessly, turning to Hatty, who was still slightly metamorphosed from his anger from prior. The small ghost bites her lip before pulling Hatty closer. "<em>Mr. Hatty, we might need your help... we can't make this stop, so... m-maybe he will listen to you?</em>" "How could that dark jerk possibly listen to me?" "<em>Maybe it... he will comply with anything powerful enough? O-or dark enough... whatever's happening to you, it seems grim. But it might be a blessing in disguise?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After it was too late on trying to prevent Mr. L and Luigi to come back together and errors keep showing on the screen no matter what kind of code he puts in, Gadd turns around and thinks a bit, as he tries to think of a different strategy. "Hmm... There must be something else that's causing Luigi to go rogue with that split personality, but with you having your explosive anger will not help this situation. It will make this worse and it's too dangerous to even consider."</p><p>Since dark Luigi has been trying to break free by force from the ghost vault, he turns back around to his computer and types up a command into the console, to activate an electric shock to stop the ghostly green plumber in his tracks; which made him scream out in pain. "<b><em>AAHHHHHHGGGG!!!</em></b>" After the shock, dark Luigi shrank quite a lot, which helped Gadd capture him into a small ghost container to keep him from doing anymore damage. "There, that'll keep him from trying to break the vault and cause more problems than we should." The small ghost container helps keep dark Luigi tame for now as if he goes into hibernation - closing his yes and having his arms wrapped around his torso. "I'm sorry, but it had-to be done for now." This would help buy some time as the professor tries to think of why Mr. L had taken over Luigi completely and with such strong darkness.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Luigi put into this small container made Hatty's stomach churn. That frustrated helplessness only served to make that dizzying throbbing return. The whole world <em> flashed </em> red as the captain stumbled, clutching his head as the veins feeding across his body all seemed to turn black. "Captain?" "<em>I-I'm fine... I think I just need to step out and get some air for a moment. I won't leave the docks, I just need a moment...</em>" Boocille watched as Hatty stumbled away, turning back to Luigi and Mr. L merged into that little ghost chamber. "<em>... I'm sorry, Mr. Luigi.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the professor noticing that Hatty left as well as most of the crew, Kazu stayed behind as Gadd performed a scan on Luigi's corporeal form data when he was sent through the extractor device as well as scanning him while inside the ghost container, to see of what's causing the sweet plumber to act this way. "Could it be something to do with the fabric from his pant leg? Because I do remember throwing a ninja star to get a boo to let go of Luigi when he was dragged away while unconscious and tore a piece away, and I saw that piece of fabric return after the fact he went rogue." The ninja informs, since he remembers what happened. "Good idea!" Gadd keeps checking the data, and notices something...</p><p>What picked up, the data showing where a ghostly evil and dark essence irradiating from the small piece from Luigi's pant leg from his overalls near his ankle where Kazu mentioned. "Hmm... This might be the source of the darkness evading Luigi's mindset, as well as letting his darker personality to shine through." Without a moment to lose, Gadd types up code on the computer to try to figure out a way to separate the darkness from Luigi, but errors keep popping up as it isn't working when Luigi is still a ghost and the fabric was hidden away in his ghost tail.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was standing outside of the docks with a spinning in his head. His breathing was fast as he felt the pulse in his ears. Something was happening... he felt a burning in his chest that wrapped around his head. Gripping his chest, it felt like a stabbing... dear God, was he having a heart attack? The doctors rushed to him, trying to assess him. "<em>Hatty, what's wrong?</em>" Dorchester tried to listen to the captain's chest, but his wrist was gripped.</p><p> </p><p>The presence of a rivaling dark energy further woke something up deep within Hatty. Looking up to the doctors, his eyes turned black at the sclera and his mouth had begun to bleed. Teeth fell from necrotized gums as darker tinges of red and sharp teeth replaced the chipped smile. All seemed to go quite until there was a <em> deafening </em> scream of billowing anguish as the metamorphosis made every inch of Hatty feel as though it began burning.</p><p> </p><p>That scream was felt throughout the loading docks, as the toads felt scared of what's happening. "Oh no... What's happening..?" One of the toads shivers as he holds onto one of the other toads while one of them is holding onto Aaron's leg for comfort. The toads worry about Luigi the most, just as much as his partner, Hatty while both are fighting their dark energies and dark personality within them, as well as their metamorphosis.</p><p>While Gadd was trying to figure out what to do to pull the dark and evil energy from Luigi, he heard the deafening scream just outside the loading docks from the captain. He realizes at that moment, both Hatty and Luigi need each other to keep themselves calm and collected throughout these trying times. "Kazu, I need you to snatch Luigi after I eject him through the extractor machine." "Why for?" Kazu asks as he wonders what the professor wants him to do. "Looks like the only way to get the dark essence out from Luigi, is while he's back with us, thanks to you pointing out where the source of his internal chaos is." "Ahh, gotcha." The ninja happily obliged as he got ready to catch the plumber.</p><p> </p><p>As this occurred, Hatty could <em> feel </em> some sort of cancerous spread of darkness overcome every inch of his being. Every single molecule of his form felt as though it was <em> blistering </em> hot as the veins filled him through. Something was truly <em> awakening </em> in him... a sort of power that was unbelievable... a power that a mortal vessel could <em> barely </em> contain. This was especially so, since parts of him were starting to <em> shred open</em>. His cheeks began to narrow and rip, his fingertips were starting to bleed as his very finger bones sharpened beyond belief. Some of the crew was trying to calm him down, to console his pain, but the man was seizing in pain, foam frothing up from his throat. "<em>Captain, focus on me, look at me! We're here, it's going to be okay..! You have to fight this..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luckily Hatty's transformation is hidden away from most of the crew and the toads while Elvin Gadd executes the commands to bring the ghost canister that contains dark Luigi inside to the ejection port and activates it. This releases the dark ghostly plumber through it while he was in hibernation, sending him through the same tubes as where he came in and spits him out through the extractor after shifting it back to its original position. Kazu was able to capture Luigi just before he would have crashed into the wall. "Gotcha!" "Good catch!" Luckily the green plumber was still out cold from the anesthetic and the magic cuffs were on his wrists. "Come, let's get that corrupted fabric off of him before he wakes up." The professor hops off the chair and leads Kazu to a bed nearest to the lab so that the ninja can lay Luigi on it, which he obliges and gently places the unconscious lad onto it.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty was starting to fade into unconsciousness, the pain was too much to handle and the shredding stopped, but he was in a <em> great </em> deal of anguish. The welled frustration, the <em> anger</em>, the feeling of being nearly betrayed activated the swift... Hatty was in the <em> throes </em> of pain now, panting out shakily and sniveling. "<em>It hurts it hurts make it stop...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once the corrupted fabric from Luigi's lower cuff on his overalls had been snipped off and shown a bit of his red and white-stripped sock, the dark illusion was shown for a couple seconds after coming out of Luigi's body and absorbed into fabric. This startled the professor and Kazu, as they weren't expecting a dark illusion form of Luigi being zapped into the fabric, just as Boocille had come out of the lab with the sweet plumber's hat in tow as she tries to hug it like a soft pillow with lots of worry written on her face. She was also frightened when she saw the dark illusion and finally figured out that <em> it </em> was the source of the evil chaos within Luigi. After Gadd takes the corrupted fabric back to the lab to do some studies on it, Kazu stays behind to tend to the unconscious plumber just as he notices Boocille. "I hope that'll stop the psychotic rage and chaos within..." Though, the ninja was also worried about Hatty as well, but wants to keep Luigi company for now along with Boocille. </p><p>At this time, the toads were mentioning loud enough that Hatty could hear, that Luigi was alright and <em> 'alive'</em>, though unconscious near the lab as they go and keep the sweet plumber company alongside Kazu and Boocille while some other crew mates try to tend to the captain with worry.</p><p> </p><p>Bringing over the hat to Luigi, Boocille gently propped it back where it belonged on his head before hugging onto him to the best of her abilities. "<em>I hope he'll be okay now. He's already been through much, it isn't fair that he's shacked up with more abuse! I'm just glad that that's over now...</em>" Her soft voice echoed out... <em> he was okay</em>. Breathing shakily, Hatty's state began to equalize, the cracking and darkening halting, however his skin was <em> still </em> stained.</p><p> </p><p>Soon after the news broke out to Luigi, Kev came over to administer the two medicines to wake up the loving and kind plumber much faster; which took at least a few minutes to take effect, along with Crispy dispelling the magic cuffs that were bound to his wrists. One of the toads hops up to the bed and sits next to Luigi and pats Boocille to help her feel better. "Don't you worry! We know he'll pull through!" One of the toads cheered happily as another climbed up and sat on the bed closer to Luigi's legs.</p><p>After several moments, Luigi starts to shift in his bed as the toads and Boocille prepare themselves as well as Kazu watching closely, just in case... With a short snort and huff and a soft moan, the green plumber opens his eyes, showing that's his eye colors are completely back to normal - baby blue - though there was a slight oddity, the irises have a few strands of grey as well, but isn't really noticeable unless looking closely. His eyesight was blurry for a moment as he saw the few toads as well as Kazu got into focus, as well as feeling Boocille hugging him as best as she could. "<em>Wh--...</em>" As he tries to move, it feels like his body is being weighed heavily with a thwimp along with a <em> pounding </em> headache.</p><p> </p><p>Jack Runningback was there to help Hatty up after his metamorphosis has halted for now as Centipete pats the captain's shoulder, as they don't want to leave their best friends' side. "Don't worry, Hatty, we'll stay close by and help you!" Aaron mentions to the captain while close by to him.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille gasped when Luigi came to, gently petting his cheek. "<em>It's alright, Mr. Luigi. You're coming out of some medicines used on you... a lot just happened, so don't rush it. The antidote will get you up and moving again soon, but give it a moment, please.</em>" The sweet ghost was so concerned about Luigi and the captain, said the man being lowered onto his bed and laid out as Dorchester began to see his wounds.</p><p> </p><p>"... these wounds are pretty odd. Like his body was trying to reject and rip itself <em> away </em> from whatever was happening."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, probably..." Centipete hisses like a snake while sitting next to Hatty as he's getting treated, patting the captain's shoulder to keep him company. "Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't get any worse." Aaron mentions as he felt worried about Hatty and his visual appearance.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi smirks slightly and blinks a couple times as more of his strength comes back and slowly sits up from the bed, gently grabbing hold of Boocille and hugs her tightly to help each other feel more comforted. "Yay! Luigi's alright!" One of the toads cheer in happiness while a couple others dance with each other. Though, the green plumber had-to let go of her as his head hurts and tries to put pressure on his forehead with his hand. "Wh-what happened...? I-I don't remember m-much, o-other than b-blacking out f-from b-being in the b-bilge..." When he tries to recall what happened to him, his head hurts even more so and shakes his head a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>A </em> <b> <em>lot</em> </b> <em> happened... you had some sort of dark entity over took you first, but then it got worse with King Boo and Lord Maya trying to pull you to them. T-they could've gotten you killed, b-but thankfully, the crew was able to stop you. N-now, Hatty... I don't know what's going on with him! L-look..!</em>" She clung to her arm as Luigi sat up, both looking to Hatty. He looked... almost like burnt toast, having black marks going up and around his body.</p><p> </p><p>When seeing Hatty looking <em> different </em> from what he remembers, Luigi gets scared and does not know what's going on with the captain... When he looks back to Boocille and heard some of the story of what happened to him, some of the memories come flooding back, but not all. "<em>I... I remember...</em>" The pain on his head is <em> throbbing </em> while trying to recall the memories. "<em>I-I remember, s-some sort of... d-dark entity th-that shaped t-to look like me... I-it was standing n-next to me, o-offering s-some kind of </em> <b> <em>d-deal</em></b><em>...</em>" He felt sad after his headache started to go away slowly, "<em>I-it's w-words w-were </em> <b> <em>enticing</em></b><em>... H-helping me unlock my power f-from within a-and have </em> <b> <em>u-unbreakable</em> </b> <em> confidence...</em>" His expression becomes from pain to sad as he looks away from Boocille. "<em>I-in exchange f-for l-letting it in...</em>" He didn't want to mutter those words, as he put his hand on his chest, feeling guilty for even accepting the proposal from the dark entity that stood before him. But hearing the other part of when he was being lured to King Boo and Lord Maya to his death after being taken over by the dark entity from within, his face went pale and tears ran down his cheeks. "<em>I-I'm so sorry f-for a-all of this...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Without a word, Boocille wrapped her little arms about Luigi and gave him a reassuring hug. "<em>Their words and promises are enticing, but they're always empty... I'm just glad that the crew was here to prevent that deal from gaining traction. If we'd lost you... I don't know or want to even think of what would've happened to everyone. But... somehow, while you were under that possession, Hatty became so... so angry! His shouting, his </em> <b> <em>swearing</em></b>..." "It was unbelievable." One of the crew stepped in to finish.</p><p> </p><p>"He's an otherwise patient and such a down to Earth man, he'd <em> never </em> say what he said there... n-now, he looks <em> horrifying! </em> We don't know what happened to him, but it... it looks bad."</p><p> </p><p>Luigi starts to remember bits and pieces of that memory; running down the pitch black hallway without any kind of control of himself, then next thing he remembers of Hatty screaming in his face in explosive anger he'd never want to hear nor see before his memories go fuzzy again as he wraps his arms around Boocille once more and hugs her with a soft whimper. "<em>I-I'm sorry! I-I'm so sorry...</em>" The green stache cries out softly, feeling <em> horrible </em> for what he made himself and Hatty go through, as well as some of the other crew mates and scaring the toads as one of them pats Luigi on his shoulder to help him feel better a little bit at least.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille gave Luigi a soft, squeezy hug in order to reassure him. "<em>It wasn't your fault, Mr. Luigi. It wasn't something you could easily control...</em>" </p><p> </p><p>After a little bit, Luigi starts to feel a little better as he lets go of Boocille and hops off the bed, he then notices the missing piece from his overall leggings at his ankle but ignores it for now as he cautiously walks over to Hatty. "<em>H-Hatty..?</em>" The green plumber whimpers as he hesitates to come closer, seeing how <em> different </em> he looks from what he remembers.</p><p> </p><p>She felt the hug subside as Luigi went over to Hatty. The man was <em> horrifically </em> dazed, fading in and out as his head lulled, eyes fluttering with a guttural groan.</p><p> </p><p>As Luigi got close enough with caution, he could see the differences of his appearance from what he remembers, making him frightened. But, the plumber had-to let the captain know that he's okay and pats his shoulder gently. "<em>H-Hatty... Y-you're okay... I-I'm okay...</em>" Luigi's soft, gentle and kind words would help Hatty recover, as his voice was actually his own. "<em>P-please... W-wake up...</em>" He gets worried about him of how he's slipping in and out of consciousness.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing that sweet, soft voice once more... "<em>P-please... w-wake up...</em>" that alone echoed in Hatty's mind and prompted him to start to stir. His eyes slowly opened. Still that glowing green, but upon seeing Luigi, the pupils were far more soft as they focused in their daze. "<em>... you're... you're okay..?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi notices the glow in Hatty's eyes, but since he saw that before, he wasn't as afraid from seeing that again. "<em>Y-yes... I-I-a don't remember m-much of what h-happened... B-but from what B-Boocille told me...</em>" The plumber lets go of the captain's arm and looks away, as his sad and guilty expression says it all. "<em>I-I'm sorry... I-I-a feel awful, f-for what I've done...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... n-no... it... it's okay, Luigi. You couldn't... control what happened... It was a moment of weakness. People... do the more rash... the more rash things when they feel as though there's an easier way out... believe me, I've done the same thing.</em>" His voice was weak and tarnished with rales as his whole body ached and twinged with every slight movement.</p><p> </p><p>Even though Luigi couldn't remember some of what happened, the captain's words helped the sweet plumber to feel a little better; but couldn't shake the fact that he could feel the presence of his dark and split personality deep within his mind. Though instead of working against each other, they'll work together to reach the same end goal as he felt the headache a bit on his forehead and puts pressure on it to try to minimize the pain. "<em>S-still th-though... I-I can't h-help but f-feel guilty... F-for what I've done...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty groaned out in pain, laying back down while holding onto Luigi's free hand. "<em>You... don't need to feel sorry... or guilty-</em>" He coughed out, small bits of blood coming up from it dripping back into his throat from his injured mouth. "<em>I'll be okay now... I just need a rest.</em>" "Gosh, he doesn't look so good. I wish we had a means to make him better faster!"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing one of the crew mates, Luigi looks over to Boocille with a concerned look on his face. "Boocille... I-is there a way t-to help Hatty out..?" He politely questions as he remembers her helping to heal his own wound on his leg as he gently grabs hold of her little nub of an arm and pulls the cute ghost closer to help reassure her that she'll be safe with him as he pats her head gently.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... y-yes, actually.</em>" Lightly patting Luigi's hand and drifting to the captain, she concentrated deeply before- <em> pop!</em> A small heart came from her being and floated down, colliding and vanishing into Hatty's being. "<em>There... h-he should feel... at least far less achy.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing the small ghostly heart absorbed into Hatty, Luigi grips the captain's hand a little tighter as he reaches to pat Boocille once more with gratitude. "I-I hope that'll help you..." The sad plumber takes a deep sigh, as he pulls up a chair and sits next to the captain. He genuinely cares about Hatty, just like the other crew mates that are still around. Fargus was sitting on the other side of the bed from Luigi, patting the captain's shoulder, though he always felt hungry...</p><p> </p><p>With a small groan, Hatty's eyes opened with his sharpness returning. "<em>Aauhhh... ooh, tha... </em> that... that feels better..." He sighed out, sitting up a bit more while looking up to Luigi. "... h-how... how do... how do I look? Is it... is... is it bad..?"</p><p> </p><p>The green plumber looks around to see if Hatty could see for himself and notices a mirror close by and grabs it, then shows the captain what he looks like now after all of this. "I-I think... Something w-with your anger... It's causing your drastic change o-of appearance." Luigi was also completely clueless of what the underlying cause of Hatty's transformation, but his anger is making it worse.</p><p> </p><p>Looking into the mirror, Hatty's eyes widened and he slightly scurried back. Running his fingers over the darkness, he grimaced visibly. "<em>Ew, God... </em> i-it feels like worn leather..."</p><p> </p><p>"I-I don't know what t-to tell you..." Luigi takes a deep breath as Hatty's new <em> look </em> isn't sitting well, but he tries to keep strong to stay by the captain and help comfort him. "P-probably its b-best... t-to not get any more angry..?" With the plumber's gentle words, he gently grips Hatty's wrist to help keep him calm.</p><p> </p><p>"... I'm not... I'm not even an <em> angry </em> person. I can't... I <em> can't </em> explain this <em> rage </em> that seems to appear out of nowhere! It's awful, it makes me feel ill, it makes my head <em> throb</em>... I don't know what it is... could it be that I'm truly going <em> insane </em> ? ... perhaps there... there's something <em> horribly wrong </em> with me?"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi doesn't have much of an answer, as he looks away in confusion and worry for a moment, but looks back up with the same worry. "I-I don't know... A-all we c-could now... I-is to k-keep calm." Though, after all of the mess the plumber put everyone through, he yawns and stretches as he lays his arms and head on the side of the bed and closes his eyes. "<em>B-but... P-probably g-get some r-rest first...</em>" His words sounded more quiet as Luigi drifted off to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Shivering from the pain in his head from <em> total exhaustion</em>, Hatty looked to Luigi and saw him starting to nod off. "It's best that you rest as well, captain." One of the crew lightly patted his shoulder, and the man himself nodded. "<em>You're right...</em>" Though, afraid of sleeping by himself due to his metamorphosis, he scooted closer and clung onto Luigi. He felt oddly cold, far colder than he usually would. This was odd...</p><p> </p><p>Shortly after, the crew mates and the toads go to their beds and sleep as Boocille sleeps with Hatty and Luigi. The peace and quiet was <em> eerie</em>, but the professor works on something that would help Luigi in the long run, thanks to the new data he got from the extractor.</p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>After all of that unfolded between Hatty and Luigi, Maya had sensed that they were close into snatching Luigi quite easily, but his dark illusion had lost its grip on the sweet plumber after the information sent from it mentally of what happened before it got to its <em> final </em> destination. "<em>Hmm... Looks like we were close in catching Luigi without much fuss... But it seems that your little ghost pup you neglected as well as the captain and a few crew mates had helped stop the plan of luring the pesky plumber here...</em>" The demon lord huffed and crossed his arms, as he wasn't happy for that derailment of one of their most easiest plans to foil.</p><p> </p><p>With a snarl, King Boo's little arms flailed in the air angrily. "<em>HOW COULD WE COME SO CLOSE, ALL TO BE THWARTED BY A PUPPY?! How is that possible?!</em>" King Boo's frustration turned him red, making him look more like a floating cherry tomato than anything else. "<em>Augh, no matter!! I've made sure to set up the </em> <b> <em>next</em> </b> <em> course that these little trapeze actors will endure to truly test their metals... but it will be truly corrosive to their frames! Kre-ke-ke-ke!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I can still sense my creation... If only I can reach it now...</em>" Maya sighs, but he isn't too worried about it at the moment, as he lets it gather information to be a spy while in the lab and hidden in the fabric. "<em>We will get them... Even if it takes multiple attempts, but one of them will pull through.</em>" Seeing King Boo go red like a tomato, the demon lord chuckles as he pats the side of Kind Boo's head to get him to calm down.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>This will </em> <b> <em>not</em> </b> <em> fail... if that spy cannot reach us, then we will reach those two! Through proxy, this next should be able to ensnare one of their precious souls. Not only would that give is everything we'd need to know, but it would be a delightful way to finally </em> <b> <em>calm my nerves</em></b><em>.</em>" The Boo shuddered in anger, but at feeling Maya's hand, the large ghost puffed out and leaned into the demon's clawed hand.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh, even if it does fail like most others, let's get the next plan in gear.</em>" Maya whispers into King Boo's invisible ear, telling him what their next plan of action should be if King Boo's plan fails as he snickers and grins a the idea plan.</p><p> </p><p>Listening in to Maya's next plan, King Boo's face went from an unsure sneer to a delighted gasp and a toothy grin. "<em>Ooohhohoho, kre-kekekeh~! Sinfully delightful! Absolutely horrid and I love it!</em>"</p><p><br/>
"<em>Excellent~...</em>" Maya laughs maniacally as he sets out to get the backup plan rolling, a secretive one that only he and King Boo would know about, and do later on if all else fails.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A Bone to Pick</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a few hours of peace and quiet in the loading docks, mostly everyone had gotten their rest as much as they could. Hatty and Boocille were the first to wake up, though Luigi was snoring a little loudly; though this time, his snoring didn't actually affect the two's ability to sleep peacefully.</p><p> </p><p>Waking up, Hatty rubbed his eyes while Boocille shuddered and shook herself awake. "<em>Ya~wn... m-mister Hatty, how did you sleep?</em>" "Surprisingly better than usual... how do I..?" "<em>Look?</em>" Looking to Hatty, she was surprised to see the darkness abating somewhat. "<em>Not as bad as before.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Hatty and Boocille. Luigi starts to rouse as well. "Mmmmmhhh..." Slightly moving a bit, the green-clothed lad slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them a bit to get himself to wake up further after yawning and stretching. "G-good morning..." Even though it technically wasn't morning, since the outside of the ship was almost permanently night time, it's hard to tell. Though, once he looked up to Hatty, he noticed that his appearance had become better than a few hours ago. "H-how are you feeling?" Luigi gently asks Hatty with a soft smile.</p><p> </p><p>"Morning to you... I'm feeling less achy... but unusually cold still." He shuddered, feeling at the black skin. "... what could be causing this, I haven't a clue. But whatever it is, it doesn't feel natural."</p><p> </p><p>"I-I'm not sure either..." Luigi sighs, just as he hears the professor calling his name and turns his head to the lab that was close by. "Luigi! Come to the lab, I need to show you something." "Coming!" the Italian plumber yells back as he gets up from his chair. "I'll go s-see what the professor wants. B-both of you can c-come along if you like." Luigi pats Boocille on her head gently as he heads over to the lab to see what Gadd wants from him.</p><p> </p><p>Instinctively, Boocille flew along with Luigi while Anubis hopped up and licked Hatty's face. "<em>Aww, haha! </em> Hello, puppy!" He happily chimed, petting the small pup's head and scratching his ears. "<em>Ark-ark!</em>" "How's my little pup?" "<em>Arf-arf!</em>" All the while, Boocille was staying close to Luigi, clinging to his cap.</p><p> </p><p>While Boocille is holding onto the plumber's cap while it's on his head, Luigi gets to the lab. "H-hey, professor, wh-what is it that you need f-from me..?" He timidly asks, wondering what Gadd wants. "Ahh, Luigi! I have something to show you." Gadd turns around and holds a couple of miniature devices in his hands, resembling Luigi's buttons, but not quite. "These can help you when times are dire." The professor hops off the chair and helps out in installing the devices on the golden buttons on his overalls, replacing them. "It'll help with your <em> internal </em> struggles as well." Luigi felt confused as to what kind of <em> internal </em> struggles Gadd was talking about while the buttons were replaced. Intrigued, the Italian plumber looks at them as one of them is lighter gold while the other is darker gold. "W-what do they do?" Luigi wonders. "Well, activate one of them by twisting it and give it a go, see what it does." Elvin Gadd commands him, "A-alright..."</p><p>Grabbing hold of the darker gold one, Luigi twists it counter-clockwise, opening up a miniature extractor-like device as he felt something eject from his body through it, making him fall onto his butt from the recoil. He shakes his head as he feels a little dazed and gets up again. "Wh-what happened..?" Luigi felt confused as he looked around, then noticed a ghost of his dark doppelganger right in front of everyone; which made the sweet Italian plumber scared and shivered in fear. "<em>Wh-- what's going on..?</em>" Luigi timidly asks, not knowing what's happening and scared to see Mr. L in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking and tuning in, Mr. L looked about in a haze before realizing that he was <em> out </em> of Luigi's body! "<em>I... I'm free! I'm free as--</em>" Trying to move, he sadly couldn't. There was some sort of <em> supernatural </em> connector between them that tightened, causing him to be bungee corded back with a snap, prompting the specter to slide across the floor like a pile of tracked in dog crap. "<em>Uugh... what the-!?</em>" Boocille couldn't help but chuckle out, flushing slightly. "<em>T-that's the spectral cord. You can't cut it, no matter what you do. Y-you're part of Luigi, dark spirit. Y-you can't be apart from him, s-so even if you're trying to get away and want to be away, y-you'll be stuck together for good.</em>" "<em>Rrrrgh! The insolence!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Well, this is your dark personality that was locked away long ago, if you recall." Gadd informs, as Luigi finally has part of his memories come back to what happened just a bit ago, as well as long ago with the time with Dimentio. "S-so you're m-my dark half... Th-that was l-locked away u-until recently..." The green plumber felt a little scared of being close to his ghostly dark half as he scoots back a bit.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, it's me. That part that you've utilized during your pretentious little paper-based adventure. And you'd be so eager to forget me and let me </em> <b> <em>rot</em> </b> <em> within the yawning chasm of your mind, you selfish twit!</em>" "<em>Hey, you will </em> <b> <em>not</em> </b> <em> start insulting Luigi! H-he's a hero, no matter what you say..! He's far braver than what you give him credit for. If it wasn't for his love and fortitude, none of us would even have come this far! The likes of you could've gotten everyone k-killed because you're easily corruptible.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luckily the red in Mr. L's blank but grey eyes are completely gone, thanks to the dark illusion had separated from him, though the harsh words made Luigi felt even more scared and timid, covering his head with his arms to try to deflect the insults. "Now now, no need for arguing!" Gadd tries to stop the arguing, "Now with those devices on you, you can separate your personalities from your physical body, but it's wise to not use both of them at the same time." "Wh-why not..?" Luigi wonders as he was looking at the lighter <em> button </em> and was about to activate it, but he stops himself to listen as to why. "Well, your original half will go through the other device; since each is dedicated to one of your personalities." After hearing that, Luigi lets go of the other <em> button </em> and doesn't activate it. "O-oh..."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... s-so that would end up with Luigi's body just being an empty shell? T-that isn't good... that means anyone or anything can get into his body and cause all sorts of mayhem.</em>" Boocille clung tighter onto Luigi's head, little mitts causing a bit of squeezing, but nothing that would cause pain.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, though at least those devices are reversible to bring him back." The professor informs as Luigi nods and grabs hold of the darker button and twists it clockwise to activate it to reverse its' function; to bring the ghostly Mr. L back inside his body and adhere to his original and light half after a bit of recoil.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... i-is... does this thing have a sort of... r-rescue function?</em>" Boocille spoke sheepishly, wanting to know <em> Heavens forbid </em> that something went screwy. She didn't know how far King Boo would go, but knew something would go down... and they needed a rescue plan.</p><p> </p><p>After shaking his head slightly once Mr. L is back inside him, his eyes turn a mix of grey and blue to show both of their personalities together at the same time, but Luigi's personality takes over his physical form and turns almost completely blue once again. "Well, that, I'm not sure of, since that would have-to be tested more thoroughly, but the time we have here is getting shorter and would need to be tested at a later time when we do have it." Gadd lets Boocille know about the information as the professor grabs the poltergust G-00 and hands it to Luigi. "I think you need this back." Luigi felt his cheeks blush a bit as he takes the vacuum and puts it on. "Th-thanks, professor." The green stache scratches the back of his neck as he looks up to try to see the cute boo on his head, the flip on his cap impedes his view of her. "Ready to go?" Luigi felt a little more confident after the whole ordeal and now knows he has a dark side of himself as he reaches to pat Boocille on her side a bit.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille clung to Luigi's hat as if for dear life, accepting the pats eagerly while slightly lulling to a side. That was a thing to note: despite being ghosts, Boos <em> loved </em> physical affection. They thrived on it when they were in their physical form. All while this was taking place, Hatty was laying down with the spectral pup yapping at him softly and snuggling up to his hand. "<em>Who's a good pup-pup?</em>" "<em>Arf!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With a chuckle, Luigi leaves the lab with Boocille and comes over to Hatty, seeing Anubis with the captain and happily playing with him. "Aww, Anubis b-being playful~" Luigi couldn't help but pet the sweet and adorable dark ghost pup as he looked up to the captain. "Ready t-to go, Mr. Hatty?" The Italian plumber asks with a soft smile to his face.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I think I'm ready." Setting the pup down, Hatty got up and readied his Poltergust... but was stopped when he felt a tugging on his pant leg. A small whimpering came up his leg as he turned back, seeing Anubis clinging to the man's pant leg by his tiny teeth. Wagging his tail softly, he sniveled and little paws scratched at his sock. "Aww... you want to come with me?" Picking the pup up, he saw those big, loving ghostly eyes that wanted to stay with his owner. "... well, alright." Opening his coat, he carefully seated Anubis in the inner pocket, prompting the puppy to excitedly yap.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi couldn't help but chuckle as he boops Anubis' nose with his finger as he's riding in the captain's inner pocket and poked out from his coat. "You're such a cute one, aren't you?" With a smile, the green plumber picks up Boocille from his head and hugs her tightly; indicating that it's safe to hide within once more.</p><p> </p><p>Upon being hugged, Boocille squeaked softly before tunneling back into the safety of Luigi's body, nestling comfortably and ready to stay with him through the worst of things. It was safest there, after all, if they were returning to the forefront of <em> madness </em> waiting for them in the halls. All the while, Hatty made sure that Anubis was safe in his coat. "Alright... I'm ready. He's safe, Boocille's hidden."</p><p> </p><p>Even though there is Luigi's dark half awake and alert alongside his original cheery and timid half, Mr. L keeps his distance for a while, as he realizes that they need to work together instead of fighting against one another while the light half takes the controls most of the time.</p><p>Though as Luigi and Hatty head back to the lab, they almost crash into the newly released Cool Kid that's whizzing on by in front of the two with a few of the toads, happily riding on a new skateboard and cheering as they cling on the crew mate. Luigi was able to jump back just in time, but had-to smile a bit as he saw the toads having fun with Cool Kid, even in these depressing times. "Heh heh, Looks like-a they're having fun."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Cool Kid zip by made Hatty feel a pang of shame... <em> his board</em>. He remembered destroying it... wait, wasn't it destroyed? "... wait, Cool Kid- how did his board get repaired?" .oO( <em> Let Hatty know t-that he doesn't need to thank me for that one. </em> ) Oh, Boocille? Goodness, no wonder why she was so quiet while they were asleep, she was putting that together again! .oO( <em> It takes a bit of vim and vigor, but I got it together again. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>After hearing Boocille from within, .oO( <em> I'll let him know. </em> ) Luigi looks up with a smile. "B-Boocille wanted to l-let you know, she helped repair the skateboard w-while we were asleep." The green plumber pats Hatty's arm as they continue on to the lab as they ask Gadd to send them to a different part of the ship with the pixelator television with the help of the map data inside the GameBoo Advance SP that had gotten recharged while they were asleep.</p><p>After they were sent to a different part of the ship, Luigi face plants onto the floor, since he could never get a good way to land properly. Hatty was no different, but he landed on his butt instead. "<em>Owwwiieeee....</em>" Feeling dazed, he shakes his head, slowly sitting up and looks around with his flashlight as he shivers in fear, hoping there's no danger around.</p><p> </p><p>Wow, that was <em> incredible </em> that she could fix it! He definitely should keep tabs on his anger... considering he still <em> looked </em> like a burnt scroll. Sent through the ship with the powers of technology, Hatty bounced on his rump with a few thumps and grumbled. "<em>Darnit... </em> I haven't been whooped on the hinds this hard since I discovered what profanity was." Getting up, he lent a hand to Luigi and carefully pulled him up off of the ground. "I got you."</p><p> </p><p>With Hatty's help, Luigi was able to get up on his feet and brush himself off. "Th-thanks." Looking around, the area the two were at are in unfamiliar territory on the ship, yet Hatty knows where they're at. "Wh-where are we..?" He felt clueless, since some parts of the ship look the same as some others, but different states of decay and neglect. Though, he remembers that the GameBoo Advance SP had the map data for the ship, but didn't realize that it wasn't in his pocket until he tried to check... Then panic sets in. "Wh-where did the GameBoo Advance SP Go?!" The green stache didn't know that Hatty had left it at the lab to get it recharged, and wasn't able to grab it before they teleported to their current location.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping at hearing that, Hatty groped at his pockets, only feeling the yappy little pup licking his fingers. "<em>Crud! </em> I completely forgot about that! I left it to charge on its station, now it <em> is </em> , but now it's off in the docks and we're all the way here! <em> Darnit! </em> Ugh... we'll have to go around and find <em> another </em> pixelator again." Defeatedly, Hatty pulled himself together, turning his flashlight on. "... more importantly, it's best we find out where we are right now."</p><p> </p><p>After the realization, Luigi's face went pale as his mustache sank a bit for a moment, since now they have-to go through the ship the hard way and have no idea where they're at, in his mind. "W-we need t-to get it, b-before s-something b-bad happens..!!" He gets worried and scared, whimpering as he clutches his hat with his hands.</p><p>Luckily, objects can pass through the pixelator as well without much of a fuss, as the camera activates and teleports the fully charged GameBoo Advance SP and lands on the carpeted floor. While on the floor, it rings and buzzes, letting the two know that there's a call waiting to get answered... Though they didn't know it at first and got frightened from the sound coming from the next room over.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty paused and shushed Luigi, sticking an ear out. "... do you hear that? That sounds like a... almost like an old cell phone buzzing? It sounds like it's coming from the next room. There." He pointed to where he heard that buzzing noise, slowly approaching and bringing the first brave soul to crane his neck through the corridor.</p><p> </p><p>Since Luigi wanted to be extra cautious, he twists the dark gold button counter-clockwise on his overalls to activate it, sending Mr. L out of his body after the recoil and gets back up. With his dark half outside, he was able to go through walls in limited range to find hidden goodies around; which the same thing can work as well if the roles were reversed. "C-could you f-find out wh-what that n-noise is, from the n-next room over..?" Luigi timidly asks Mr. L a little bit of help.</p><p> </p><p>The darker personality snorted out, staring away for a moment before sighing. "<em>... seeing how many die if I don't, fine. But don't think I'm doing this because of you.</em>" With a grumble, Mr. L zipped through into the following room, discovering the small device left on the floor. "<em>... some sort of personal gaming device with modifications from Gadd. This what you were having a panic attack about?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi grumbles a bit, since he gets easily spooked from certain noises as well; but with the spiritual tether, he can see and hear from his dark half can see and hear. "Th-that's th-the GameBoo Advance SP..." He gets to the door and cautiously opens it to follow inside to see the device on the floor while Mr. L is waiting over the device. He felt more relieved after knowing that it came through the pixelator and went over to pick it up.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Well, it's nothing to be shaking in your boots about. Really. If you want to stop living in the shadow of that bloated older brother of yours, you should probably learn to grow a pair.</em>" "Hey-" Hatty barked, finally coming into the room. "Don't be talking down at Luigi like that! He's done <em> plenty </em> without you, you should know that."</p><p> </p><p>With those words, Luigi gets aggravated a bit, but continues on as he answers the call. "Hello?" "<em>Ahh! Luigi! Good to see you still there.</em>" Gadd was on the other end as Mr. L and Hatty was right behind Luigi. "<em>It's a good thing I've noticed you left the GameBoo Advance SP, and sent it over to you before you both left the area.</em>" "H-heh heh, th-thanks, professor..." Luigi felt embarrassed that the device was left behind, but it's with them now and felt relieved.</p><p> </p><p>Hatty sighed in relief at hearing the doctor's voice. "Thank you so much, doctor." "<em>So are we fine, then, professor?</em>" Mr. L spoke impatiently as Hatty looked to the nozzle of his vacuum. Hmm, he felt something stuck in the hose. Was it a nut or some sort of screw? Sounded like something was rattling in it. "... I think I have something stuck in the nozzle."</p><p> </p><p>After hanging up and putting the device in his pocket, Luigi looks back to the captain. "Wh-what not r-reverse its function, to pop w-whatever it is, out..?" Luigi asks Hatty as he looks around the room they're in with his flashlight. Just a normal cabin like most others, but a little bigger than most others. Though, Luigi goes back to the door and opens it up to go through it to continue on down the dingy hallways to find their next destination while Hatty and Mr. L follow the green-clothed lad.</p><p> </p><p>"Lemme try that, see if that works..." Doing thusly with the nozzle up to his face- albeit <em> very </em> unwise to do so- nothing came out. "... hang on, maybe if I try to suck up what ever's stuck? Because I hear it- listen." He shook the nozzle, causing it to rattle noisily.</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm, must be really s-stuck then." Luigi looks up to Mr. L as he felt stumped as to why the item wasn't coming out and wonders if his dark half would help get the item out from Hatty's poltergust hose; since he didn't want to damage his vacuum in order to get whatever is stuck, out.</p><p> </p><p>Deciding to figure it out once and for all what was trapped in the nozzle, Hatty decided to turn the vacuum on in hopes to free himself of that annoying rattling... However, all he did was catch Mr. L by the tail! "<em>WAH!</em>" "<em>ARGH!! LET ME GO, YOU BUMBLING IDIOT!</em>" "<em>Oh my gosh I'm sorry, I'm sorry!</em>" Hurriedly turning it off, Mr. L popped out of the nozzle and tumbled forward, nearly falling through the floor due to his incorporeal nature. "<em>Hff... hff... you completely incompetent, brainless dope! Are you trying to get us killed, you rube?! You sorry excuse of a lousy Frenchman, you snail shucking member of the commonwealth, I have half a mind to--</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt his dark half lose some of its 'health' after being caught into Hatty's ghost tail, since their spiritual connection was heavily tied to his original half as he clutched his chest. Though he quickly recovers and shakes his head a bit after hearing the insults from his dark half. "Th-that's enough!" He doesn't hesitate to twist the dark gold device on his overalls again in the opposite direction to pull Mr. L back inside himself, to at least recover and keep his harsh mouth shut. After that, Luigi takes a deep breath after recovering from the recoil and shakes his head. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Hatty... I didn't r-realize h-how mean my dark self is..."</p><p> </p><p>Shuddering after having nearly sucked in Luigi's soul, the insults <em> burned </em> Hatty quite a bit after that. It was good to see that his anger was at least not <em> terrible </em> in the moment, able to be put aside. "I didn't realize that e-either of you would be susceptible to the vacuum like that, I'm so sorry..!"</p><p> </p><p>"H-heh, n-neither did I..." Luigi pats Hatty's arm as they continue onward as they cautiously walk down the hallways. "A-at l-least we now know... Whenever either s-side of us are out, n-need to be careful th-that we don't accidentally c-capture ourselves..." Though, whatever is rattling inside the poltergust 5000 has finally dislodged itself once the captain checks the noise again.</p><p> </p><p>Seems the culprit was a lodged lug nut that was trapped in the accordion structure of the nozzle. Welp, that stopped that infernal noise, thankfully! "Phew... best to be more wise about where I point this contraption from now on."</p><p> </p><p>"Y-yeah, th-that'll be best." As the two continue on, the GameBoo Advance SP had shown the door of where their next key they obtained from Crispy Exterior fight from earlier as Luigi digs out the key. "W-well, h-here g-goes nothing..." The Italian plumber uses the key to unlock the door; in which this key vanishes like some others. As Luigi grabs the door knob and barely cracks it open, he is barely able to move out of the way once it swings open almost instantly; showing another portal as it pulls the green stache in. Though this time, he wasn't able to react in time with his plunger and tried to grab the floor as best he could. "<em>HATTY!! HELP!!</em>" Luigi screams out in fear, scared of where this portal would take him.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>AAGH!</em>" Turning the vacuum onto the ground, Hatty hitched the floor while holding onto Luigi's wrist. "<em>I won't let you go, friend!</em>" He cried out, feeling the intense portal trying to draw them in... however, the rotting floor gave way and snapped, forcing the two into the abstract world. "<em>AAAUGH!!</em>" In that moment of time, Anubis had barely escaped from Hatty's coat and yips worriedly at the door as it slammed shut behind the ghost puppy and claws at the door a bit before it wasn't safe to stay and goes through the floor to hide.</p><p> </p><p>The two screamed out as they traveled through the wormhole into a new place, another pocket dimension! Once the two meet the other end of the portal and land on soggy ground, the pocket dimension is cold and dark with a massive open area of void all around as it expands one square kilometer all around. Luigi gets up and looks around with his flashlight after landing on his belly on the soggy ground and brushes the dirt off; though now his clothing is a little wet. "<em>Wh-where are we..?</em>" He notices that there were tombstones all around the ground! His face felt drained and scared and he shivered in fear; since he doesn't like being in <em> graveyards </em> as it gives creepy and scary vibes. A couple lightning strikes hit through the void; making the green plumber jump and hide behind Hatty as he just got up himself, though Boocille was trying to help calm him down from the inside while Mr. L wasn't too kind for Luigi being so cowardly even in a graveyard.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Oh, settle down, you jumpy bastard. The storm won't kill you, but whatever might own these tombs may! So pull yourself together! </em> ) .oO( <em> A-are you okay, Luigi? </em> ) It was... odd, having two voices within him that only he could hear now. All the while, Hatty looked around, scratching his neck at the tension that he felt in his throat. "... feels like a swamp. This only brings back some... bad feelings in the pit of my gut."</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I-I'm okay... </em> ) She replies to Boocille, though he mentally glares at Mr. L. .oO( <em> L-lightning s-strikes directly o-on us c-can th-though... </em> ) After hearing the voices within his head, Luigi tries to peek out from behind the captain as he tries to gather some of the confidence radiating from his dark half, which helps a little bit as he takes a deep breath. "C-come on, let's-a go t-to try to f-find s-something to get u-us out of here..." Luigi comes out as he starts walking through the graveyard. There were a few trees that didn't have any leaves on them around the whole area, as if those trees had died a long time ago as well as moss and greenery has been growing on a few tombstones.</p><p>While Hatty and Luigi travel around, a few ghosts and boos were watching from afar, not wanting to get close as the two get closer to the center of the graveyard, where one big tombstone resides and peaked the captain and the plumber's interest to see why this one is larger than others.</p><p> </p><p>Approaching this particularly large tombstone, Hatty turned his flashlight onto it with a subtle disturbed look. "... dear lord. They're copycatting my <em> grandmother's </em> tombstone. Those sick <em> bastards </em> . She had the same praying mother Mary stone statue over her grave... it even has her necklace on it." He felt at this faux copy of aged, weathered pearls. "... I remember why she had this here, too. She put this statue and put the pearls here... pearls for her mother that she lost, and the mother Mary to signify the child she'd lost. This is truly an insult. They're using my own <em> memories </em> against me. ... but how could they know such a thing? It's so intimate and personal, <em> no one </em>, barely anyone in the crew knows that I've lost family in the past."</p><p> </p><p>He stopped to think before a <em> wave </em> of crashing pain hit his head. A thunderclap resonated in his head before he stabilized, his eyes glowing that unearthly tinge. "I-I'm okay... I'm alright, I'm in control..."</p><p> </p><p>On Luigi's vision, he could see Mario's name and a red cap on top of the tombstone instead. He felt that his heart had been shattered to see this, since his nightmare of losing his older twin brother had come true. "<em> B-brother... </em> " Luigi whimpers in sadness walks over to the tombstone to get a closer look as he tries to get the moss and debris off to see better of what the writing's on it. "<em>Th-this c-can't be..!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As the two came closer to the tombstone, both with tears in their eyes, Mr. L started to smell something fishy. Looking up, he could see something <em> off </em> about this. .oO( <em> ... Luigi, you fool!! Get away from that, the statue is alive!! </em> ) He cried out frantically... but it was too late, with the statue suddenly <em> moving </em> . "<em>W-wha... i-it's alive?!</em>" Hatty cried out, suddenly seeing the face of the grieving mother Mary smile wickedly before the stone <em> exploded</em>, revealing the specter beneath. "<em>JESUS--!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi was focused on the tombstone until Mr. L warned him as he quickly got up and backed away, since the statue in Luigi's eyes was a statue of Mario before it moved and exploded as the plumber covers his head with his arms to shield from the explosion of the stone coming at them.</p><p>The specter was Billy Skinless! One of the crew mates that looked like just a pile of bones. "<em>Look what we got here!</em>" This freaked Luigi out as he backed off a little more towards the captain. Though, the specter was holding a special weapon in his hand, just as Billy doesn't hesitate to swipe it at the green plumber; since he didn't react fast enough to back away and got struck at his chest; knocking something out from him.</p><p>After being struck, Luigi yelps in pain, but collapses onto the ground and lays on his side... The tombstone's <em> illusion </em> transforms from Mary or Mario; to <em> Luigi</em>, as the specter holds something of value in his hand as a couple more ghostly and bony crew mates pop out from behind the tombstone and laugh at their misfortune.</p><p> </p><p>Being knocked back by the explosion, Hatty pulled himself from the muggy mug and saw something <em> glistening </em> and wriggling in Billy Skinless's grip. Oh... oh dear <em> God! </em> It was Luigi... his <em> soul!! </em> In that state of panicked terror, he scurried up and pulled the seemingly lifeless body up into his arms and fled, trying to get distance between himself and the skeletal crew mates that awkwardly pranced with weapons forged of their own bones. "<em>Luigi, please, wake up!! P-please, get up..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Hatty beckoned the body, but without a soul to work the flesh, it wasn't going to work. His lifeless puppet body was alive, but had no means of working outside of being comatose. That was, until Boocille noticed the silence. .oO( <em> ... M-Mr. Luigi..? H-hello, Mr. Luigi? ... Mr. L? Anyone? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Once the three specters notice Hatty running off with Luigi's body in tow, they split up to try to cover more ground to try to keep pace with the captain as they laugh as Billy Skinless holds the plumber's soul close by so it can't run off on its own. "<em>You can't run forever!</em>" Abe echoes his voice all around to try to spook Hatty.</p><p>Just as when Hatty gets far enough away, he places Luigi down onto the ground gently and tries to wake him up, to no avail... Though, Boocille was still inside him, which luckily she wasn't pulled out alongside his spirit as she's all alone, and not knowing what had happened with him exactly.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing the empty echo around her, she whimpered and knew that she had no choice but to take the reins this time. She couldn't let Mr. Hatty be completely defenseless. All the while, Hatty was trying to maintain a cool head, but the panic was starting to trigger that unusual ailment. Groaning out, he was breathing harder, feeling his heart squeeze and pound... almost like it was <em> growing </em>. His breathing was filled with grunts and growls, feeling the intensity increase.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>We know you're somewhere, captain! You can't stay away forever!</em>" "<em>You can't outrun death, captain!</em>" The taunting words only served to increase the affliction, and Hatty was slowly beginning to lose control. As this happened, Luigi's body suddenly sat up, looking around in a haze. His one blue eyes were a slight, glowing brassy tinge with his hair having gone the similar tinge. A soft sunflower and dandelion blossom smell came from him as well, very unusual. "<em>Hff... nngh... </em> ... M-Mister Hatty..? <em> Mister Hatty! </em> " Seeing his state, she tried to hold onto his shoulders with her shaky hands. "<em>I-it's okay, it's alright, please focus on me! You can't lose control, i-it's not good for you..!</em>" She saw the pain it put him in, but feared that her pleads would do little to stop this madness.</p><p> </p><p>As the three spectral crew mates hone in on Hatty's location, they notice Luigi up and about?! Though seeing his eyes and hair glow yellow along with a golden aura around the plumber; then realizing that there was another <em> soul </em> inside his body as Luigi tries to comfort Hatty in the mix of the plumber's and Boocille's voice echoing out. Though, they also notice the captain struggling in pain in his chest. Perfect opportunity for the three to surprise the two as they charge at the two while they are distracted.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hatty, please, you have to pull yourself together! We don't have the time to wait here, we're under atta--</em>" Before she could respond, the specter in Luigi's form was attacked, taking a bone club to the side and whacked near breathless. Gasping out, she was trying to restart her breathing following being knocked against the ribs. Bearing witness to the attack, Hatty could feel the last shred of his sanity holding together finally give way to the pain and the <em> visions</em>. Whatever flooded his mind, it was filling him with the unyielding need for violence, and a <em> thirst </em> for torment. Something that terrified <em> and </em> aroused his inner <em> demon</em>.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Haha! What's wrong, Hatty? Upset that we knocked your little ghostly girlfriend away? That's too bad for that, how's about we cut even and...</em>" As the crew mate continued his barrage of insults, it was a slurry of nonsense to Hatty who soon turned the dark light onto the specter, ensuring he was completely solid. "<em>Hey, what're you doing? Hardening my bones to make sure my next hit'll really hurt! You're a glutton for punishment, a real idio-</em>" Before that could be finished, there was a deafening <em> crack </em> before that skeletal crew mate fell with a <em> huge </em> dent that exploded inwards into the empty skull. The body twitched and the ghostly eyes flicked around before the specter left that pseudo form as it turned to dust. "<em>W-what the--?!</em>" "<b><em>I'll make you regret the day you ever set foot on my ship. You're still MY crew. And you've betrayed me. Now, you'll pay with your LIVES.</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>H-Hatty... no...!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi's soul wants to break free from Billy Skinless' grasp, though the split personalities shows themselves and both see what's going on as the two halves start arguing with each other as his dark half yells at the light half as to why he wasn't able to get their physical form away fast enough. Though, this distracts Billy Skinless from Hatty and Boocille and growls at the captured spirit. "<em>Enough!</em>" the specter squeezes his soul, weakening their strength as they both vanish within the spectral orb as they were forced to become silent.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille tried to recover faster, but her pain tolerance was only slightly better than that of Luigi's, and that whack left her <em> staggering </em> and crawling to get up. Hatty, on the other hand, could feel what was <em> lava </em> pumping through his veins as that creeping dark cancer spread across his skin as he turned the device onto a few of the souls. Spraying them with the iridescent light, he was <em> merciless </em> in his attack. While Luigi simply wailed them into the ground to weaken them, Hatty <em> battered </em> whichever spirit he could capture into the tombstones. Bones shattered, the resting place was defiled, and the spirits were dwindling in numbers. A few were attacking the captain, but he was in a <em> full </em> frenzy!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>W-what do we do? He's a psychopath!</em>" "<em>We keep attacking! We can't let him win!</em>" The other spirits tried after Hatty with Boocille managing to get up and pulled the man at the shoulders. "<em>Hatty, stop it, please! You'll actually hurt someone!</em>" "<b><em>GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DARE BARK ME IN THE TOE, YOU CRETIN!!</em></b>" He snapped back to her, even <em> shoving </em> her away into the mossy grounds. This... this <em> wasn't </em> the captain that Billy Skinless would've known. He'd <em> never </em> get angry, he'd <em> never </em> put his hands on someone, he'd <em> never </em> attack his friends.</p><p> </p><p>Some of the bony ghosts and boos dressed in bone skulls weren't afraid of coming in head on and trying to hinder Hatty's and Boocille's progress into capturing the three of the crew mates that are guarding the plumber's spirit. While Billy Skinless stays back, Abe and Horace Headcavity think of an idea to try to get Hatty's soul as well, but would have-to time it <em> perfectly </em> when the captain is enraged to the point that almost <em> nothing </em> can escape his wrath. "<em>Hmm... Probably can bait the captain to try to get this precious soul back, but set a trap for him..~</em>" Billy chuckles as he holds the soul close to him.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Hatty in that blind rage, Boocille looked around and saw some of the Boos up to no good. She <em> knew </em> she had to do something to stop this! She had to try to intercept this, because in this blind state, he could get <em> killed </em> ! Sighing, she came to the <em> grim </em> decision that he wasn't going to stop on his own... getting up, she started to focus intensely on herself. Her powers began to <em> glow </em> brilliantly and <em> lift </em> her off of the ground. "<em>I'm sorry, Mr. Hatty, but you're leaving me with little options now.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The three crew mates notice Boocille in Luigi's body was starting to glow and <em> slightly </em> float from the ground, they didn't didn't hesitate to fly away as fast as they could with Luigi's spirit in tow, though the boos and bony ghosts weren't reluctant to run away and try to keep fighting, despite what's going on with Hatty and Boocille. "<em>Come and find us, if you want your precious friend back! Ha ha ha!!</em>" That was the queue for the remaining boos and bony ghosts to retreat and hide, leaving Hatty and Boocille alone.</p><p> </p><p>Focusing down on Hatty, she held out a hand with a sad expression. "<em>I'm sorry, captain.</em>" Forcing a <em> blast </em> outwards to the captain, he was encapsulated. Around him was a golden bubble that was <em> impenetrable </em> by any manner, only burst from Boocille herself. It was one perk of being the direct creation of King Boo. "<b><em>WHAT?! LET ME OUT, YOU HARPY!!</em></b>" Hatty banged and tried what he could to get free. Alas, he was trapped, but also protected. "<em>I'm sorry, Hatty, but you left me with no choice! Now, </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> have to save them and I won't let you jeopardize yourself!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the poltergust G-00 in tow and flash light out, Boocille had no choice but to leave Hatty behind in order to find the ghostly crew mates that had her best friend's soul to bring back.</p><p>During that time, Billy Skinless places the weakened soul on top of a gravestone a little ways away from the two as they notice only Boocille is coming. He doesn't stay around as he goes invisible and waits... The glow from the soul is like a small beacon in the dark to know where the orb is from afar.</p><p> </p><p>Forced to leave the captain in the bubble, Boocille worked on dwindling the specter numbers, though was far less merciless in her attack. She couldn't let Hatty wander straight into a trap or allow him to injure himself or someone else... especially with that curse spreading with <em> every </em> heartbeat. It was far worse now due to the pain of the illusion and the terror he felt. It all turned into anger, which was so uncharacteristic for him.</p><p> </p><p>On the flip side, Boocille kept tabs on the specters. Struggling with one, she was ripped about and bounced off the ground. "<em>Ouch!</em>" Luigi made it look so much easier than what it actually was.</p><p> </p><p>Abe wasn't hesitant to try to tackle Boocille as he came from behind while she was down and grabbed the handle of the poltergust to lift her up from off the ground. "<em>Ha ha! Having fun there... Boocille?</em>" Looks like he <em> knew </em> that it was her controlling Luigi's body while his soul was somewhere else, since there was no other explanation as to why his body up and about, though the other ghosts and boos had figured it out long ago as well as they taunt the poor cute boo while inside the hero's body.</p><p> </p><p>With the nozzle gripped and ground disappearing from beneath her, she was dangled as the squadron of specters circled around her and all seemed to gawk and laugh. But instead of showing tears, she showed a scowl and determination that was unshakeable. "<em>You think I'm just a puppet for my father, that I'll be afraid of you just like I was of him. But I won't be afraid anymore. After all, I'm not the one about to get stunned!</em>" With a whine, the unwise ghosts were bathed in the brilliant flash before the vacuum sprung to life.</p><p> </p><p>With the bright flash from the strobulb, Abe tries to keep himself from being flashed from the strobulb by hiding behind the poltergust as the other ghosts get hit while the couple boos with them were unaffected; keeping Boocille up in the air while the ghosts get tacked onto the vacuum nozzle and gets sucked in pretty quickly. The couple boos were taunting poor Boocille as they smack Luigi's face a couple times with the cackling laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Squirming against the assault, Boocille's grip on the nozzle intensified. Her hair on Luigi's form grew a more striking gold as she focused more of her energy into the device itself. Turning it on from the suction force to the gusting, it readied its dizzying attack... this time, with the added, staggering pollen effect that could transcend flesh and spirit! Like a powder keg of irritation, pollen was swift to cake <em> everything </em> with the mechanical explosion, leaving everything dusted yellow and blinding anything unfortunate enough to be <em> too </em> close. "<em>AUGH! I can't see!</em>" A few of the boos coughed and rubbed their eyes. "<em>How did she do that?! Ah, it burns!!</em>" "<em>Make it stop, it itches!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The explosion of the pollen covered Abe, making him cough and lose grip on the poltergust and having Boocille drop to the ground below. "<em>Ohh, you'll pay for that!</em>" Abe scolds as he shakes the irritant off of him as he flies down to her, though he didn't realize that he left himself vulnerable once he reached to the cute boo controlling Luigi's physical form.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh, I'll pay, but that's why we have allergy medicine!</em>" With a giggle, she turned the vacuum on. Cleaning the air around herself, while also catching Abe by the tail. "<em>I refuse to be the damsel in distress any longer!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>ACK!! LET GO!! NOOO!!</em>" Abe screams out as he gets tugged from his bony ghostly tail, though the resistance was pretty high, but not high enough to escape the suction pull as his 'health' was low enough at the start that he got sucked in and captured within the vacuum.</p><p> </p><p>With one good <em> cleave and jerk</em>, a slam to the ground, the bully called Abe was sucked into the vacuum. "<em>Gotcha! Don't mess with a girl and her vacuum!</em>" She looked over to Hatty, feeling sad that the man was forced to stew in the bubble as specters cackled about him, but were thankfully unable to do harm to him. She couldn't worry about that now... she had to get Luigi and Mr. L back!</p><p> </p><p>After Abe had gotten captured, it was just a little ways away to get the spiritual orb as it glows in the nightly void, with a couple lightning strikes nearby that would have spooked poor Luigi from the flashing noise. The remaining boos shake off the pollen as they chase after Boocille as she is heading towards her friend's soul.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing herself as being chased, she had to elude her attackers... She knew driving along ahead was a bad idea, so she needed to do this by proxy. Running straight ahead, she seemed to be bolting straight for the tombstone with the orbs before yet <em> another </em> explosion... this time, only more Boos flew blinded. While not as extravagant, it was an effective smoke bomb... Boocille was gone, and a few blinded Boos spiraled forward. "<em>Ack-- cough cough- ew! It smells like old lady perfume!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The smoke bomb pollen was definitely effective, as the ghosts had lost sight of Boocille. "<em>Where did she go?! We can't lose them now!</em>" One of the ghosts argue as they go to try to find her. The boos cough to get the perfume-smelling pollen out of their throats after they lost her and fly out of the yellowish smoke. "<em>Don't think you've gotten away, Boocille!</em>" One of the boos bark out as they go invisible and went into hiding themselves.</p><p> </p><p>Ducking around one of the rotten trees, Boocille looked about and spotted something... ah, a skull! Picking it up, she turned the vacuum on suction before holding it there. Turning over from around the tree, she aimed it <em> right </em> up at the orb of souls. "<em>I'm sorry, Luigi, Mr. L... but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>One of the two halves of the soul had woken up from being squeezed from Billy Skinless who was acting like the grim reaper and noticed Luigi's physical form up and moving as well as having the skull aimed at them. It was Mr. L that woke and tried to move out of the way, but with Luigi still out and hadn't woken up, he couldn't move with the extra 'weight' by himself.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Boocille aiming a <em> skull </em> at them, Mr. L tried to move with frantic shoving and wriggling. "<em>Luigi, Luigi!! You dense bastard, get up!! Get up, that crazy bitch is about to fire a cranium cap at us!!</em>" He tried to push them out of the way, flying back and moving forward while attached to the orb, but to no avail due to the presence of a stiff spirit. "<em>No no no NO NO </em> <b> <em>NO NO NO!!</em></b>" He cried from within the orb before the skull was <em> blasted </em> towards them to knock them free of the trap. "<b><em>AUGH NO--</em></b>" Luigi, being out, thankfully didn't feel a thing... on the opposite end, Mr. L felt <em> everything </em> as it hit them and caused them to <em> fly </em> off of the tomb. "<b><em>WAAAH-HUA-HA-HAAAUH..!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>The trap didn't get set off, though Billy didn't take that lightly when the orb had gotten knocked off from the tombstone. Though Boocille was close by, he kept himself hidden in case whenever she gets close; ready to strike at a moment's notice.</p><p>As the other boos and ghosts notice the spirit orb knocked off the tombstone, one of them decides to snag onto it while invisible and make it float in the air like it can fly, but in reality, one of the boos is holding one in secret.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing stars due to being smacked away from the entrapped tomb, Mr. L's eyes spun with stars circling his head as he recovered. Seeing Boocille rapidly approaching, he sure did feel relieved to know that he was about to get out of that orb... but before he could say anything, he felt something <em> slimy </em> drip into the orb. Right as he was about to yell something out, that same Boo cupped the orb into its mouth, causing the man to scream out. "<em>PUT ME DOWN!! GET ME OUT OF YOUR FILTHY MOUTH, YOU JERK WAD!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The boo was invisible after Mr. L realized that the orb was in the boo's mouth; which helped Boocille see the orb fly around and be completely clueless of what's happening... That is, until the boo laughs once Boocille tries to grab the orb and moves out of the way from her hand a few times before going visible and then flies off.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Hey!!</em>" Boocille dogged directly after the Boo while Mr. L continued trying to escape the awful confines of the now salivary defiled container he was locked in. Knocking it around, he could feel the Boo pulling its tongue back. Oh no, it was going to swallow them! All while Boocille continued after the specter, she trained the darklight on it, noting how swift it was to turn invisible, as well as enter its incorporeal state.</p><p> </p><p>The boo notices the darklight shining on it, but quickly moves out range from it just as some other ghosts and boos join the fray into stopping Boocille from catching the boo that has the spectral orb. Oh dear, this could be <em> messy </em> , since the boo that has their friend's soul is hiding in plain sight; just as when the boo swallows the orb and hides it perfectly while being visible. "<em>Try to find your friend now!</em>" Horace Headcavity laughs as he was just outside of the group of boos and ghosts surrounding Boocille.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that she was surrounded, she looked about at possible venues... if she stayed to suck all these fiends up, she'd be here <em> all </em> day and miss her chance to save her friends! Instead, she saw one of the branches of the dead trees hanging overhead. Turning her vacuum up onto it, she used her insane ingenuity to draw herself upwards and <em> caught </em> the branch before starting to swing herself. The dizzying motion kept the Boos guessing where she was going, since she would spin her body and go another way. Soon, she reached enough momentum... with a strong puff of her device, she went <em> barreling </em> forward! Impressive, yes, but there was a problem. Unable to fly, she was at the mercy of gravity! Getting away from the Boos cost her tumbling into the muddy ground before finding herself at a good way closer to Horace.</p><p> </p><p>The ghosts and boos try to follow Boocille as quickly as they could, though one of them was a little bit behind from most others, but was able to keep up most of the time as Horace Headcavity keeps taunting her as she comes after him. "<em>Heh heh! Come and get me!</em>" He laughs while making faces at her, though with his head being just a skull, he couldn't actually make faces very well.</p><p> </p><p>As Horace continued to taunt Boocille, the Boo with the orb in his gut was starting to feel some <em> sickish </em> shifting. The orb would rock, roll and shift uncomfortably in his gut... a bit like a hunk of food in a bout of food poisoning, the orb caused the gut of the specter to writhe, cramp and bubble. <em> Eugh</em>, it wasn't starting to feel so good holding Mr. L in there. "<em>Let me out!! I swear, if I get out of here, I'm going to bite ulcers into your stomach!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Of course that Luigi was completely oblivious of what's happening while with Mr. L, though the boo felt sick from all the tossing within its little belly and tried to hold it in as it tried to keep up with the other ghosts and boos. Though, the agony of the boo shows itself through the small group like a sore thumb once Boocille noticed the specific boo. Though Horace pulled out one of his ghostly bones and threw it at Boocille while she was distracted for a second. "<em>Surprise!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that that specter was beginning to get ill from Mr. L's stubborn perseverance, she knew that this might just be well within her favor! However, she had a <em> bone </em> to pick with the likes of Horace, feeling the bone ricochet against her nose. Yelping out and feeling her nose starting to leak warmth, her eyes turned angry with a golden glow. "<em>How's about you have a taste of your own medicine, you jerk?!</em>" Charging up the vacuum, out popped some sort of round, lumpy orb that rolled lame against the floor. Initially, many Boos laughed, poking the thing. "<em>Look, it's a dud like her! Ha, she can't do anything to hurt u-</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Spoke too soon there. The moment someone got near it, it exploded in a cloud of sparkly sunflowers and daisy blossoms, filling the area with so much petals that it was like a New Year's party. "<em>Waaugh! How can she do that?!</em>" "S<em>he's King Boo's daughter, how can she not?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With that distraction, the boos and ghosts were vulnerable from Boocille's poltergust as she dealt with them one by one until almost all of them were captured into the vacuum and the <em> dust </em> settled. Once the smoke clears and a few ghosts and boos remain, the boo that is feeling ill and Horace is far enough away as the ghostly crew mate laughs. "<em>Too bad that we still have the upper hand!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As Boocille managed to get a distance between herself and Horace, the Boo struggling with the orb could feel it shifting back and forward. Mr. L's determination on pushing the prison ball was working rather well! It was weighing heavier the more the ghost's stomach would cramp, from a light watery orb to a <em> ten pound crystal ball</em>. The rolling was hurting worse now, causing everything- every sight, every smell- to nauseate. Finally, she was able to <em> spot </em> that one Boo that was having an especially hard time with that orb in his gullet.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing how she was swiftly running out of time, she knew that fighting was going to leave her strapped for time. Who knows how long until that Boo would recover and vanish fully! Spotting one tombstone, she suddenly rushed forward and managed to step up onto it. It sank forward, creating a sort of slope. That way, she was able to <em> dance </em> on the heads of the solid specters, skipping gayly and merrily as she did! "<em>Whee~! It's like a field of flowers!</em>" "<em>OWW!</em>" "<em>AUGH MY HEAD!!</em>" "<em>OW, MY NECK!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With Boocille quickly closing in on the boo and Horace after snagging most of the ghosts and boos, they try to move out of the way once they realize what she's doing, making her fall flat onto the ground. This gives enough time for the sick boo to barely recover just enough to float away and vanish to hide away from her, though Horace decides to stay behind and defend himself by throwing another ghostly bone at her to stop her from getting any closer.</p><p> </p><p>This time around, she managed to dive out of the way before the marrow menace could strike her again. Only issue was that she was <em> surrounded </em> by the undead. "<em>... sorry Luigi, but you'll have to wait for me to get to you!</em>" She cried out as she charged the flash of her nozzle. This was going to take a <em> while</em>, and it wasn't going to be easy!</p><p> </p><p>The remaining ghosts and boos don't hesitate to attack Boocille with their bones as well as their slimy tongues, though she was prepared this time as a few get snagged onto the vacuum's suction hold at the same time and get slammed on one another, weakening them and getting captured quite quickly. With only a couple boos remaining, they keep going at her like there's no tomorrow! Though that wouldn't last long as the darklight made them dizzy and vulnerable to her attack with the poltergust.</p><p> </p><p>Training the darklight on the last few, she was left dirty, tired and panting in the eerie silence now... but she knew that there was one big bad mother hubber that was still ready to fight, and that was Horace. "<em>Come out, Horace!! Don't hide from me like the cowardly bully that you are! Come and fight me, ghost to ghost!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>While it was silent and she was looking around to find Horace, the ghostly crew mate had a different plan as he hovered just above her, tapping her head with a bone. Just as when she looks up, he swipes the green cap from her head and laughs and dangles it from her, just to have fun tormenting her some more. "<em>Hee hee! Having fun yet?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With a scowl, she turns the nozzle up to them. "<em>You think that I'm some pawn for you to play with. I've already cut down your little theater troupe, and I'm not going to let you win this!</em>" The whining of the bulb increased, the darklight shining their bodies more and more solid.</p><p> </p><p>Realizing that his body is becoming more solid from the darklight, the bone becomes more solid as well and takes one hard swing at Boocille and knocks her back a bit, since he wasn't like the boos that try to hide their face from showing the light. "<em>You think that just getting me more solid would help you, and hide my face like the boos, you got another thing coming!</em>" Boy, Luigi's physical form while Boocille is controlling his body is taking quite a beating and he wouldn't like the pain once his soul comes back.</p><p> </p><p>Being smacked back, Boocille was knocked about well enough to know that this wasn't going to help her cause! ... or would it? If his bones were <em> solid</em>, they were breakable. As much as it made her queasy, this was going to be an <em> awful </em> game of cat and mouse. "<em>If you want to get me, then come and catch me first, marrowbrains!</em>" With that, she blew a raspberry at the skeletal specter before weaving through the tombstones... She had a plan, but needed to find the right material for it first.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as Boocille took off, Horace quickly follows behind her as she throws more ghostly bones at her as hard as he could, though most of the attacks are being missed, but a few does strike her in the back of the head as well as the poltergust while still holding the green cap. "<em>Challenge accepted!</em>" Horace laughs while chasing after her.</p><p> </p><p>Having to duck around the headstones and avoid massive bits of bones, she allowed them to be worn down and break, watching as they dwindled down. The physical form was much more swift to tire than the spirit, so she knew she couldn't hold this up for long before her body would <em> ache </em> beyond belief! Seeing an opportunity, she turned her vacuum on and sucked up a particularly large piece of broken stone, waiting for the right moment when Horace might jump the corner.</p><p> </p><p>With the device aimed down, she took aim and fired, blasting a large hunk of stone up towards the skeletal form in hopes to break something substantial.</p><p> </p><p>Just as when Horace had gotten to Boocille, he wasn't reacting fast enough for her to blow him a bit away from her as his ghostly bones fell apart into a pile not too far away. "<em>Well crap...</em>" As he tries to rebuild himself back to normal, he leaves himself vulnerable from Boocille and the poltergust... Oh dear.</p><p> </p><p>Turning the vacuum up to the strongest setting it could be on, she stood firm on the ground and aimed it dead up at Horace. "<em>Now you'll pay for hurting my friends!!</em>" She knew this was going to be an uphill, muddy battle... she was bruised, tired. She had parts bleeding on her, she hurt everywhere, but she wouldn't stop until Luigi and Mr. L were <em> both </em> safe!</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EEP!!</em>" Horace struggled to get free from the vacuum's grasp as he tries to fly away, but with it's on the strongest setting, there was no way that he could scramble to get out from this one as a few slams from her knocks some of the bones off of his body shape and gets sucked into the vacuum chamber; leaving Luigi's cap on the ground next to her as she picks it up and puts it back on her head.</p><p>After he was captured, there was only one left; which was Billy Skinless with the boo close by the last ghostly crew mate that's holding the spiritual orb. They both were sitting on top of a small tomb structure building not too far from Boocille as thick fog started to roll in. "<em>Good job of making it this far, but there's always the chance of failure and death~ Heh heh~</em>" Billy resides while holding a death scythe in his hands while having a black robe over himself to make himself appear as the actual grim reaper.</p><p> </p><p>Panting afterwards, she was leaning against the tombstone, the aching beginning to set in. Looking up at seeing Billy Skinless hovering over, his form just as imposing as death, she was trying to think of different ways to combat this specter... however, the scythe glistened and rose up. Gasping, she saw it come her way..! Oh lord! Trying to escape, she was snagged, feeling her foot caught in a pit in the ground. Oh no, this was it..!! Closing her eyes, she thought that this would be it for her.</p><p> </p><p>What she neglected to realize was that the orb around Hatty wasn't going to last forever. The bubble was starting to weaken, especially that Boocille's strength was waning. The scythe came down... but it was interrupted? Looking up, it was Hatty! The bubble failed and he was freed! "<em>Mr. Hatty!</em>" He pierced the scythe into the accordion of the hose and crushed it down, holding it in place.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>WHAT?!</em>" Billy was stopped from Hatty's heroic action to snag Boocille out from Luigi after he had flown over to her once she was vulnerable position. Having lost his scythe, he growls and takes out a bone club to smack the captain away. "<em>How dare you take my prize away!</em>" Instead of focusing on Boocille, his attention is now on Hatty.</p><p>The boo stayed behind to try to keep the spectral orb from being taken from it, but when the light side finally woke up, "<em>Uhhhggg... W-what happened..?</em>" Luigi dazedly asks as he looks around, noticing that it was pitch black and <em> cramped </em> inside, "<em>Well mister sleepy head, we're inside a boo's stomach!</em>" Mr. L pointed out in a harsh tone, as Luigi noticed the slimy goop around them and felt gross. "<em>Now are you going to help us get out or not?</em>" Mr. L huffs as he crosses his arms. With a nod from the light half, Luigi and Mr. L decide to work together to make the boo even more sick to its belly and couldn't take it anymore and barfed put the orb, but its tongue was still holding it firmly so it couldn't escape.</p><p> </p><p>Well, they were hanging out in this awful specter's throat now, still trapped in his tongue. Maybe it was time to <em> choke </em> this spectral fiend up!</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Boocille saw Hatty out of the bubble, but could see that he was more direct in his attack against Billy. Pulling the nozzle back, he gripped onto the solid handle of the scythe before starting to petal back. "<b><em>You won't be getting this infernal weapon back soon, you rube! Boocille, run!</em></b>" Hatty had enough lucidness to speak out, holding the scythe up in his grasp as the specter ran for the now very green Boo that struggled with the orb in its mouth.</p><p> </p><p>The boo kept having trouble keeping the spiritual orb in its throat and noticed Boocille coming after it and tries to fly away from her trying to chase it, though Billy Skinless pulled back from Hatty, "<em>Even if you did take my scythe, it doesn't matter, I'll still make sure you'll DIE!!</em>" He takes a bone club out and throws it at the captain.</p><p> </p><p>As Boocille kept up with the Boo with the orb in its mouth, Hatty held onto the scythe tightly, the anger still <em> fresh </em> in his veins as this spreading dark cancer discolored his skin. His fingers <em> lengthened </em> with a bony cap that hardened them as they blackened, and an <em> aura </em> of redness seeped over the fully turned skin. Holding the scythe up against the bone club, he spitefully twisted it, allowing the bone to strike the handle and splinter it. "<b><em>I need not to lift a finger now! Your idiocy will be punished from beneath my feet!</em></b>" He spat out, throwing the weakened blade down and held the vacuum up, charging up the brilliant bulb. The transformation this time, without Luigi's calming presence, wasn't stopping...</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Mr. L and Luigi were frantically bouncing about in that orb they were locked in. Stopping Luigi, Mr. L pointed to the back of the Boo's mouth. "<em>There! We need to synch up together and knock ourselves down its throat. If it chokes, it can't move. Boocille can get us out after that!</em>" While it made his stomach want to leave his body, they had to do it. "<em>Eugh... this nauseates me to no end.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The boo kept at pace from Boocille while Luigi notices what Mr. L is pointing to and nods, "<em>G-good idea!</em>" The two use their force to knock around in its throat, to the point that it nicked the sensitive uvula to make the boo hack and spit out the orb while holding onto it with his tongue as it coughs a bit. Though fast approaching Boocille, the boo couldn't stop and had-to keep going.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille was hot on the fiend's trail though, but was much slower due to her body starting to catch up with her... it wasn't even <em> her </em> body, and she knew she was going to pay <em> dearly </em> for getting so beat up. With a <em> good </em> sudden shove back, Mr. L slammed shoulder first, causing the orb to slip back between the fiend's mouth and throat. "<em>Augh! Eh, it's so slimy and gross!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ick..! It's n-not fun being i-in here...</em>" Luigi felt gross himself being in the boo's mouth and throat. Boy this boo does <em> not </em> want to let go of the spiritual orb as much as it could, though every attempt they do to try to break from their slimy entrapment the boos slows down as it hacks and coughs from the orb trying to <em> choke </em> it. Though, that puts the boo at a disadvantage when it comes to flying away, since Boocille is almost at reaching point with the vacuum.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, in the spur of exhaustion, Boocille turned the vacuum on high and trained it on the gluttonous Boo's tail. At long last, she caught that darn thing by its butt! "<em>Gotcha!!</em>" Pulling back, she was ready for a fight if it meant that her friends were free!</p><p> </p><p>The boo freaks out when Boocille caught its tail and tries to break free from it as best as it could, but one strong slam onto the ground help pop out the orb from the boo completely from its mouth and throat and bounced a meter away from the boo and Boocille as a couple more slams help weaken the boo to the point that it got captured into the poltergust chamber with a loud squeak bellowing out from it. Luigi and Mr. L felt dizzy after being knocked out of the boo while the orb was laying on the ground a little bit away from her. "<em>Aaaiieeee... Maaaammmaaa mmiiaaaa...</em>" The light side shakes his head to help recover from being knocked around as his ghostly form pops out from the orb though the tail still connects to it and notices Boocille in his body close by. "<em>Boocille!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>as eager to be freed from that prison yet still linked to that orb which now dwindled in size, Mr. L looked over and saw Boocille approach them and pick the orb up. "<em>Boocille! Ah, you saved us... ... good lord, what's happened to you, girl?</em>" "<em>A </em> <b> <em>lot</em></b><em>. But now's not the time to worry about that. We need to get back to Hatty! He's fighting Billy Skinless by himself and he's still worsening!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing what's happening to Hatty, Luigi gets worried <em> sick </em> for the captain. "<em>P-please... Get us back inside, w-we need to h-help him..!!</em>" The green plumber floats over to Boocille and points to the light gold button, giving a hint to what she can do to bring them back inside his own body, though he wasn't concerned about the injuries on his body just yet.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding, she reached back and twisted on the light golden button. Like that, Boocille felt herself become displaced... the gold of Luigi's hair now going back to brown, and the blue eyes returning from the almost brass-toned, glowing eyes. Back to the way things were... almost.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Hatty was fighting Billy Skinless, but... unlike Luigi, he showed a <em> complete </em> lack of mercy. His face was a twisted scowl of anger... his hands were... they were <em> barely </em> recognizable. They were coal <em> black </em> as his anger reached a critical point. Catching onto Skinless's assault, Hatty started to use the nozzle as a <em> physical </em> rod to crack against any physical bone that he could. The state he was in now made Boocille squeak in <em> terror</em>. .oO( <em> Jeepers!! It's so much worse than I thought! He's not even recognizable! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>After Luigi's spirit had been sucked back into his body thanks to the new invention on the light gold button and regained control of his own body, Mr. L was still outside as a ghost as the invisible spiritual tether was attached. Though, he twists the dark gold button to bring his dark side in, then rushes in to help Hatty out after a bit of recoil. "W-wait!!" Luigi yells out, noticing Hatty's appearance has gotten so much <em> worse, </em> and without any delay, he flashes the strobulb at Billy Skinless and freezes him in place once getting into range. "N-now!!" After the bright flash, Billy gets stunned while Luigi trips over a small tombstone that was on the ground. He then realizes the injuries that his body had sustained while his entire soul was outside and struggles to get up.</p><p> </p><p>The pain was <em> intense </em> ... Boocille was suffering a lot while wearing his skin, though now, <em> he </em> was the one struggling with the pain. Mr. L, within Luigi, tried to urge him to get up. .oO( <em> Get up! Come on, before Hatty gets torn into ribbons, then we're dead! </em> ) .oO( <em> I don't think he can, he's too hurt..! </em> ) With the specter finally stunned, Hatty turned the vacuum on, aiming to catch the imposter reaper. "<b><em>I'll see that you're keelhauled for your transgressions against your one true captain!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>During all this time, the void had been shrinking each time one of the crew mates had been captured, and it's to the point that it's pretty much less than several square meters around the two as everything gets disintegrated into the void. While Luigi was struggling to get up, he looked back and noticed the void getting closer to them, "<em>O-oohh n-nooo...</em>" This made his eyes narrow and heart beat faster as his fight or flight kicked in and yelps out; getting up almost immediately to get away from it, just as Billy Skinless screams out in agony as he gets captured into Hatty's poltergust.</p><p> </p><p>With Skinless being drawn into the device, Hatty was left panting... sweating, exhausted from the fight, covered in wounds and bleeding. His vision was polluted with <em> red </em> as his heart beat inside of his head. Looking around, he could see Luigi on the ground and the world vanishing around them. With the plumber rising up, Hatty knew that they needed to escape. Running along with Luigi, he took the man's arm and ran <em> faster </em> than he ever did before, up to a glistening vortex that ripped open the continuum. "<b><em>Hold on, I can get us out of here!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Being pulled from the captain, Luigi yelps as he tries to keep up with Hatty to the vortex that opens a little ways from them as the void closes up even faster after Billy Skinless gets captured. With limited time now, they rush as fast as they could to the portal and leaps in, just barely missing the void snatching the two.</p><p>After being traveled back to the ship through the portal, the two get ejected from the other end as the door slams shut, having Luigi colliding on the wall and sliding down it a moment later. "<em>Aaaayyyeeee.... Mmmmaammmaaaa Mmmiiiaaa....</em>" The green plumber felt stars circling his head while laying on the floor while Hatty was able to make a good landing next to him; which was a first.</p><p> </p><p>Being thrown out from the portal, Hatty bounced on the ground and was still breathing raggedly... trying to pull himself together and staring blankly into the air for a bit, he pulled himself up on his elbows as his mind started to blank out. With a few dips of his head, the captain suddenly fell limp, his breathing more stable yet ragged. His body was <em> hurting </em> something fierce, like he'd just been caught on fire and burned...</p><p> </p><p>After snapping out of his dizzy spell, Luigi shakes his head and struggles to get up while panting heavily and sweat from his head drips onto the floor. "<em>I-... I-I-a d-d-don't w-want to... R-run l-like th-that... A-again...</em>" He felt his heart racing after running so fast, the Italian plumber tries to stabilize his breathing as he tries to get up from the floor. Though, he had-to lean against the unstable wall to keep himself up while he clutches his chest in hopes to relieve some of the pain.</p><p>Though after several moments of recovering and his breathing to finally stabilize, Luigi notices Hatty laying on the floor and goes over to him with worry. "H-Hatty? Hatty! W-wake up..!" He shakes the captain a bit, hoping to get him to wake up.</p><p> </p><p>Being thrown out from the portal, Hatty bounced on the ground and was still breathing raggedly... trying to pull himself together and staring blankly into the air for a bit, he pulled himself up on his elbows as his mind started to blank out. With a few dips of his head, the captain suddenly fell limp, his breathing more stable yet ragged. His body was <em> hurting </em> something fierce, like he'd just been caught on fire and burned...</p><p> </p><p>After snapping out of his dizzy spell, Luigi shakes his head and struggles to get up while panting heavily and sweat from his head drips onto the floor. "<em>I-... I-I-a d-d-don't w-want to... R-run l-like th-that... A-again...</em>" He felt his heart racing after running so fast, the Italian plumber tries to stabilize his breathing as he tries to get up from the floor. Though, he had-to lean against the unstable wall to keep himself up while he clutches his chest in hopes to relieve some of the pain.</p><p>Though after several moments of recovering and his breathing to finally stabilize, Luigi notices Hatty laying on the floor and goes over to him with worry. "H-Hatty? Hatty! W-wake up..!" He shakes the captain a bit, hoping to get him to wake up.</p><p> </p><p>The pain in his chest subsided soon, but the rest of his body still hurt like the dickens. It would take some recovering in order to heal once again... however, the captain was <em> far </em> from well. Hatty was <em> out </em> , his body appearing flushed and feverish, his skin was <em> piping </em> hot to the touch! .oO( <em> Jeepers, he's red hot! He feels like he has a heck of a fever! </em> )</p><p> </p><p>With Hatty feeling hot to the touch, Luigi had-to let go once he felt the heat on his hands. "Ouch! H-he's a little too h-hot..." Upon looking around, he didn't see any ghosts or boos around as he grabbed hold of the captain's ankles as tries to drag him slowly away, since he was too heavy and big enough to not be able to carry him in the Italian plumber's arms. Though his skin was a little warm at his ankles as well, but not as hot and was tolerable, "C-come on... N-need to... G-get him to s-safety..."</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I don't think you'll be able to carry him on your own. Let me take the reins, you won't be able to carry him any more, you won't handle the pain for any longer than now. </em> ) That was true. <em> So </em> much hurt, like Luigi tumbled out of a moving vehicle going at highway speeds.</p><p> </p><p>With the pain radiating throughout his body, he was struggling to keep pulling Hatty. but had-to let go of him after the pain was getting too much. After hearing Mr. L's request, he took his hat off to wipe the sweat off his forehead, but it was the <em> perfect </em> trigger for Mr. L to take over his body as his light half lost control and his dark half had taken the reins; which his eyes going blue to grey and puts his hat in his pocket as Luigi lets his dark half take the reins of his physical body. This helps the pain to subside a little bit since Mr. L had a higher pain tolerance compared to his light half.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning when he came to, Mr. L saw Hatty's state and managed to hoist him up. "<em>Ngh... </em> I definitely have a cracked rib and busted nose. But we're better off than this poor bastard... he doesn't look good at <em> all</em>." The skin across Hatty's face was <em> cracked </em> , lips were bleeding and teeth almost looked <em> broken </em>. "... poor man." He huffed out, knowing that he had to find his way to a large enough mirror to get himself and Hatty warped back to the docks with the use of the small gaming system turned teleporter.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I hope we can find a large mirror and soon... </em> ) Luigi pointed out to Mr. L, as he felt tuckered out from the pain he felt from his physical form in so much damage as he mentally hugs Boocille for comfort, as Mr. L tries to carry the captain with him to try to get to safety before any ghosts come out to get them... In which, Mr. L finds an unlocked door and goes inside as fast as he could; just as when a boo showed up around the corner of one of the conjunction hallways and barely misses them and continues on.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, this room wasn't horrendously haunted aside from whatever unusual happenings were typical of spectral energy filling a room. Mr. L carried Hatty along, stepping further into the room. It appeared to be... well, he wasn't quite sure. Things were in such ruins and caked in such heavy cobwebs that it was pert near impossible. Pulling up the hose, he carefully sucked up the thickest cobwebs and biggest spiders. "<em>Eugh. Never cared for spiders...</em>" Continuing to clear the dust and webs- <em> ah-ha! </em> There was a mirror! It was... just so dirty. Not sure it would work.</p><p> </p><p>Huffing against it and utilizing his sleeve, he managed to get it cleaned off to the best of his abilities. He couldn't use the gust ability, he'd end up <em> destroying </em> the mirror and it would be back to the drawing board.</p><p> </p><p>It's too bad that the mirror would definitely not pass the <em> white glove </em> test with all the dust piled onto it over the years, but most of it was wiped off quite easily without much effort. Though, the dust didn't help the <em> allergies </em>, which made Mr. L sneeze a couple times after breathing a little bit of it in his big nose. Luigi couldn't help but mentally snicker after sensing that his dark half had sneezed a few times.</p><p> </p><p>Snorting from the dust, Mr. L bowed back while trying to fight his body drawing in air before sneezing into the crook of his sleeve. From the injury on his nose, he ended up sullying his sleeve with a fair amount of blood with the <em> throbbing </em> kicking up in his face. "<em>Augh..! I think our nose is broken... either that, or it's just going to be badly bruised.</em>" Sniffling, he tried to hold his breath as much as he could while trying to get the dust cleared off the window in a semi-frantic manner as to avoid feeling like his brains were trying to escape his cranium.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> O-oh... Th-that's n-not going to be p-pleasant, wh-when I t-take over a-again... </em> ) Luigi felt worrisome as he mentally holds his big nose, as he can start to feel the pain from his physical body, especially his nose once Mr. L mentioned it being internally broken. .oO( <em> J-just hope th-that we could f-find a h-heart to heal us a-at least... </em> ) Luigi mentions, as he spoke about the healing properties of the hearts that come out of nowhere to heal himself as well as Hatty in times of need; though they're scarce and hard to find.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille wished she could make more of those ghostly hearts, but it took so much out of her that it would nearly tear her to <em> ribbons </em> if she continued with making them near consecutively. .oO( <em> I-it's odd that there's been so few hearts dropping... I think </em> <b> <em>those two</em> </b> <em> may have something to do with it. Usually with all those Boos, we'd be swimming in hearts. </em> ) That was true! And strange... maybe that alternate world was a dry spell.</p><p> </p><p>All the while, Mr. L readied the mirror as well as preparing the small device. .oO( <em> I'm just hoping those doctors can help us... and especially Hatty. </em> )</p><p><br/>
.oO( <em> I-I-a wonder th-that t-too... </em> ) Luigi whines, as he doesn't want to strain Boocille too much and mentally hugs her closely, after all she did for him. .oO( <em> I-I hope so as-a well... </em> ) Soon after, Mr. L presses a button on the GameBoo Advance SP to click the camera on the mirror as he holds onto Hatty close as the mirror turns, activating the spell</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Spiritual and Traditional Medicine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Mr. L and Hatty had teleported back to the loading docks, the two rushed over to see Kev and Dorchester, since the injuries were visible from what they could see, as well as Hatty's condition having gotten so much worse than before.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling himself practically fall into the arms of the doctors, Mr. L felt a wave of relief washing over him, as well as when Hatty was taken and immediately seen. "<em>Oh, dear God! Look at him, Jesus Christ! It's so bad, he's burning up..!</em>" A few other crew mates with some minor medical training came in and helped assess Hatty with a thermometer under his armpit. "... his fever is 105! He's <em> cooking </em> on the inside..!" "We need some ice, <em> now</em>." All the while, Kev was seeing to the least critical patient, that being Mr. L.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Cough- cough </em> ... ugh... I definitely have a cracked rib. I can feel it. My nose is broken, I think... I just <em> hurt</em>." His grey eyes were a bit bagged now, showing how exhausted and hurt he was.</p><p> </p><p>Once a couple crew mates hear about Mr. L's and Hatty's situations, Maggie doesn't hesitate to try to get some snow and ice to help cool the captain off as quickly as she could to get the temperature down as Kev helps out with Mr. L. "Hmm... Sounds like you do have a cracked rib, especially how labored your breathing is, and does it hurt in the slightest when you move your nose a bit?" Kev politely asks, as he gently grabs his big nose and slightly moves it a hair, to see if he could hear anything different.</p><p> </p><p>Mr. L winced, though it wasn't a <em> crippling </em> pain. " <em> Ah... hurts, but it mostly feels sore. My rib hurts far worse than anything else... and my body's generally in the thralls of pain. </em> " He groaned out, feeling himself being laid down on an examination table with the overalls undone and shirt pulled up. Beneath were <em> horrific </em> bruises that decked his body. Some were very mild, some were <em> already </em> darkened and bluing due to the trauma to tissues beneath. Around that cracked rib was a <em> horrible </em> shade of red. " <em> How... How long do you think it would take for this to heal? And... What of Hatty? Will he be alright? </em>"</p><p> </p><p>Kev sighs heavily as he lets go of Mr. L's nose, since he's seen these kinds of injuries long ago before he joined the ship. "Well, from these bruises, it could take a few days to heal without any special help, and the cracked rib can take a lot longer, I'm afraid." Kev informs, as he uses a stethoscope on his chest to see if there's any more internal damage that neither of them could pick up. "I hope he'll be okay as well, Maggie is going to try to cool him off before he burns up internally."</p><p> </p><p>With a low groan, Mr. L had to accept the fact that he might be saddled up for a day or two, but the pain in his side would be far worse. "<em>... so no other means of healing quicker are available at all? I just have to heal naturally? </em> " He huffed out with a roll of his eyes. "<em>... well, I know I'll be alright. It's the captain I'm more worried about. He was... not right during the fight. We were backed into a corner, when Hatty snapped. He went crazy... he went mad, more angry than I've ever seen anyone, and I've seen Bowser levels of anger. ... just, imagine a dragon's anger in a turtle's shell. That's intense, and that captain easily rivaled that. Now that he's burning, blistering with a fever, and he looks... not right. Like he's burnt.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Not at this moment, no. You'll have-to stay here and rest to recover as much as you can before going back out, unless you want more injuries that would take even longer to heal." Kev scratches his chin as he tries to think of something to help heal Mr. L's wounds faster. "Well, what do you remember happened, that set Hatty off like that and made his <em> condition </em> much worse than before?"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I... give me a moment to remember.</em>" .oO( <em> Luigi, what happened out there? What made Hatty fly off the handle like that? I wasn't able to see. </em> ) Mr. L asked, and replied as the plumber filled him in. "<em>There was this... unusual tombstone. Something of a memorial statue. Hatty said that it was a statue of the Mother Mary, mourning the Son... but it didn't look like Her to us. It looked like </em> <b> <em>Mario</em> </b> <em> ... locked in prayer as though he mourned himself and being away from his brother. Then... it smiled, laughed, and exploded... Hatty said something about pearls, that the statue to him was holding his grandmother's pearls. Hatty said that his grandmother lost a child and was buried with those pearls along with a Mother Mary statue to guard her entombment.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>A pause as Mr. L gained his own thoughts once more. "<em>... that's when Billy Skinless attacked us, forced us out of our body and we were swallowed by a Boo. Boocille fought for us... but Hatty's condition rapidly grew from septic to cancerous. It ate away at him... he doesn't even look like the same man now. He looks like something that crawled from the precipice of Hell, but now it's like his body is trying to fight an infection. He was hot when I took over and picked him up, he was somnolent, delirious... all I can do now is pray and hope that he can pull from this fever before it cooks him alive.</em>" Laying back down, he held a hand over that sore spot, feeling his pulse through the cracked bone.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Hatty was still <em> very </em> delirious from his fever... he was awake, but wasn't alert. His arms weakly swung about, as though he was fighting something only he could see. His skin seemed to melt the ice and snow away and his fever was static. "<em>He's still burning up, he's climbing! 106.7! We need to cut off his clothes and get him iced everywhere. Underarms, groin, back of the neck- anywhere you can!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Once Maggie has gotten a tub of ice water ready, she brings it over to Hatty and sets it next to the bed. "Ready! Just throw him in! No time to waste!" Maggie along with Dorchester and Jack Runningback helps Hatty into the tub of ice water to help rapidly cool him down; creating steam just as when his body contacts the ice water. the ice quickly melted while the captain was inside the tub, but Maggie piled on more ice onto Hatty to keep himself cool.</p><p> </p><p>Some of the doctors anxiously and hurriedly stripped Hatty down to nothing more than his underclothes, saving his dignity, checking his temperature while they battled his insane fever. "... he's stuck at 106.5. He's going down but it isn't making a difference!" "W-what more can we do? We can't make him drink, he's delirious!" "... we need an <em> ice IV. </em> " "<em>WHAT?! </em> Are you crazy, that'll <em> kill </em> him in an instant!" "Look at him, he's sizzling the ice away! This is our only option. We need to infuse a dextrose solution into him at <em> half </em> of the typical core body temperature. We run the risk, but with his fever, we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. Maggie, we need you to cool one of the bags down to 48.5 degrees. This is our only chance to save the man's life. It's life or death if this doesn't work." During that time, Anubis jumped into the coat pocket again while everyone was distracted in helping to cool down Hatty.</p><p> </p><p>During this time, Hatty was shaking. Not from the cold outside, but from the burning <em> agony </em> within him. He was running a <em> significant </em> risk of his organs becoming damaged, his <em> brain </em> was beginning to reach critical temperature. If nothing is done, his brain will first become damaged before shutting down as his organs will literally <em> cook </em> and die.</p><p> </p><p>Maggie nods as she uses her abilities to cool one of the IV bags down as quickly as she could. Luckily she gained ice abilities while she was a ghost and was able to keep it once coming back to life. While doing so, she kept putting ice in the tub in hopes to cool Hatty down from the outside at least. She worries about the captain so much, just like most other crew mates and sighs heavily.</p><p> </p><p>Holding onto Hatty's arm, Dorchester muttered a small chant of hope before inserting the IV tube into Hatty. The cold mixture was introduced into his veins with a heavy drip to both hydrate him due to the intense sweating and force his blood to thin, as well as cool him off. Initially, there was no change... but slowly, he started to stop flailing, and his temperature dropped two degrees! "<em>Down to 104, we're doing good! 103.9... 103.7...</em>" His fever was slowly breaking and he was becoming less combative, though he wasn't out of the woods just yet. They had to make sure that his fever didn't <em> return </em> . "<em>Let's keep him slightly submerged and continue this treatment until he rounds back from this.</em>" The cold equally helped with culling that unusual red ring aura around him... was it related? That wasn't entirely known.</p><p> </p><p>Maggie didn't stop putting more ice into the tub, since she wanted to make sure that he kept his temperature down. It took a while with constant flow of ice and cold water as well as an icy IV, but Hatty's temperature had gone down enough to where it wasn't critical; but was still alive and breathing normally. "<em>Phew... </em> That was scary..." Maggie sighs heavily as she tries to keep the captain cool by dipping her hand in the water to keep it cold with her ice abilities.</p><p> </p><p>The captain's eyes opened, but his pupils were pin pricks, barely responsive to light or stimuli. "<em>Captain Hatty? Captain, can you hear us?</em>" "<em>... nnhuuhh... hhnnn...</em>" "<em>Can you move your arm up for us? </em> " "<em>Nhhuhshh...</em>" Barely a response and no cohesion in speaking, only babbling and murmuring. "<em>He's still out of it. We can only hope that his brain or organs haven't been damaged. If his kidneys are damaged- worst case scenario- I don't know how we could stabilize him.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Some of the crew mates worry about what's going on with the captain, while some other crew mates, the toads and Elvin Gadd were oblivious to what's happening to both Luigi and Hatty as they mind their own business. Mr. L had-to rest and recover on the bed after he put his green shirt back down and buttoned up his overalls again after the checkup was completed and Kev hearing the whole story of what happened. "I know it'll be rough for you, but it's best for you to stay here and rest, so you can recover." Kev pats the green plumber on his shoulder gently to help him relax more. Though Kev can tell that with the grey eye colors, it wasn't exactly Luigi that's in there at the moment as Mr. L is a little more bold and grumpy compared to his light half that mainly controls the physical body.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Augh, God... Luigi had better be thankful I'm still here and not roistering that I can switch out and not deal with the aching. How's... how's the captain? Is he... as well as he can be? </em>" That wasn't an easy question to answer, unfortunately. It would take some time for that to be answered well, since he was margining at 101.3. So a lower fever than he had, but still high. Psychoactive disturbances, still present. Tetany, less frequent yet still occurring.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> I-I-a heard th-that! </em> ) Luigi mentally huffs as he crosses his arms and sticks out his tongue while being next to Boocille. As Kev looked over to see how Hatty is doing for a moment, and looks back to Mr. L. "He also needs to recover, since from what it looks like, he's not out of the woods just yet from having such a high fever." The doctor sighs, patting Mr. L's shoulder gently once more.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... he isn't close to death... is he..?</em>" Mr. L sheepishly asked, feeling a small pang of fear in his chest. "<em>Oh, no. Well... not now, he isn't, but we need to monitor him in case if his fever worsens again.</em>" "<em>Darn.</em>" Mr. L was forced to accept this, feeling the twinging ache in his side suddenly intensity. "<em>Auck-- son of a--..!!</em>" "<em>Easy, your rib might be surrounded by swelling. Any movement in that direction can cause pain. Lay back, we'll see what we can do for your pain and swelling. </em> " .oO( <em> I-I'm sorry I can't make another heart for you, Mr. L... </em> ) .oO( <em> No, no, Boocille. You did enough. You saved not only me, but Luigi </em> <b> <em>and</em> </b> <em> the captain from certain death... I'm sure without you, we would've been worm bait. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Y-yeah... we're e-entirely grateful f-for you helping us j-just as much... Y-you n-need rest as w-well... </em> ) Luigi felt the pain as well, since both him and Mr. L are connected as he winces, though he hugs Boocille close to help her feel at ease and she wouldn't have-to worry herself. .oO( <em> W-we'll recover... J-just not t-too quickly. </em> )</p><p>As Hatty and Mr. L recover, the two Secret Mission guys and Secret Sam are hiding high above on support beams as they look out for the other crew mates, the toads and the professor along with watching the entrance of the loading docks and would warn everyone if any ghosts, boos or Gerbergiest enter inside; which luckily none of them has so far.</p><p> </p><p>While everyone had been on high alert, there was <em> one </em> specter that managed to witness what <em> seemed </em> to be ills plaguing Hatty. With a smirk from where the portal door once was, the mustachio'd fiend chuckled to himself with this information. "<em>Interesting...</em>" He muttered before vanishing into thin air, the only last remnant of his presence being the soft glimmer of that golden monocle.</p><p> </p><p>During this time, as Hatty was battling the fever with small spasms in between moments of yawning and sudden small kicks, Mr. L tried to sleep off the pain he felt. As he drifted off into sleep, he found himself standing alongside Luigi in this... unusual dreamscape. All was black with only the faintest twinkling of stars above them. "<em>... what on Earth? Luigi... Boocille? Where are we? Is this a dream..? Or another trap..? Did I fall asleep?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>L-looks like you d-did fall asleep.</em>" Luigi could sense his physical body had fallen asleep as he stood next to his dark counterpart as he also saw nothing but blackness all around them, though Boocille wasn't around the two. Though, Luigi felt uneasy and scared as he doesn't know what's out there and can feel something dark close by, other than his dark half. "<em>S-something's... O-out there...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... what sort of awful dreamscape is this? Suppose everything that's been happening is just now starting to unravel in our heads...</em>" "<b>Do not be fooled, something is out there.</b>" A sudden voice spoke, causing even Mr. L to jump and looked back. An entity made of pure shadows rose before them, though no clear shape was formed.</p><p> </p><p>"<b>Do not fear me, boy. I am only the shadow of the entity that has visited you before.</b> " "<em>... L-Luigi, who is this?! I-it's a talking shadow?</em>" The only thing to truly scare Mr. L was something that he could not understand, something he could not feel. Reaching forward, the shadow retreated. "<b>Would be wise that you not touch this body. You will vanish into nothing and be lost forever.</b>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi turned and looked out while shivering in fear, as the familiar voice recalls of who it really is. "<em>I-it's h-her...</em>" He remembers a ghostly being that he and Hatty encountered just after the captain was freed and came back to life, and wanted to help both heroes as his light half kept his dark half from getting any closer; knowing what the dark flames can do to <em> anyone </em> who touches them. "<em>I-I-a s-sorry th-that w-we haven't b-been a-able to s-stop th-them f-fully a-as of yet...</em>" Luigi whines, covering his head with his arms while feeling scared of what she would do to him.</p><p> </p><p>"<b>You are doing well, I have to congratulate you thus far. However, there is something far more grave at stake here. This fever within the captain will not break... I've seen an instant in the future that is incredibly grave. While my purpose is to ensure the balance of life and death is constant, I cannot allow the hope for the balance to return to the world to be dashed.</b>" The dark mist began to spiral hypnotically before light began to shine, revealing something shocking: the <em> future </em> . ... a <em> grim </em> one.</p><p> </p><p>It showed Hatty, his dark skin <em> oozing </em> and his eyes unfocused. There were whimpers and cries as a blanket was pulled over his unmoving body. "<b>The fever is going to return... when it does, it will end his life. There is nothing that can stop it... nothing that can stop it here. There is an entity on this ship, however, that you must face within the next two days. If not, the fever will destroy the captain from the inside and I must claim his soul.</b>" "<em>What? Y... y-you can't just... not take it?</em>" "<b>Death happens irrespective of my presence. If it does not claim it, it can wander and be devoured by the darkness within the ship. However, his death can be avoided, and it must be done by you. I cannot sit idly by and allow a hero to die before his time. This development is not natural, and I refuse to allow this to destroy him.</b>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt better after knowing that he was doing okay, but upon seeing the future, the light half wines more as tears stream down his cheeks, "<em>O-ohh n-no... W-we n-need t-to help h-him...</em>" He didn't want to see that grim future, <em> especially </em> having one of his new friends <em> die </em> in front of everyone; especially himself.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Who is this... man, woman- who can help us?</em>" "<b>I know not their name. Their existence is not my diction. I only know the souls that I have reaped, not every soul which is born. But they are whom you must discover to save this man from a terrible, blistering fate. I do not know of this illness, but it is one of his very soul... not something medicine can fix. I can sense it, it is far beyond his bones and tissues.</b>" "<em>How can we find this person?</em>" "<b>They are a being of otherworldly medicines, nature and spiritual healing... the doctors may be able to tell you more, they know of the ship better than I. All I know is I can feel the presence of a healer, one who aids in life as much as in death.</b>"</p><p> </p><p>After the images of the future have gone away, Luigi wipes the tears off his face, though his expression of worry and fear was undeniable. "<em>I-if th-that h-healer w-would help us... A-as well as th-the captain... W-we n-need t-to find th-that person... A-and soon...</em>" The light half looks over to Mr. L, as he couldn't take losing <em> anyone </em>, especially after he already lost his family from King Boo.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding in agreement, Mr. L sighed out. "<em>Very well. If it's what we need to do, we'll do it... but, we're injured. And it would take days for us to recover.</em>" "<b>Fear not... for I think something may change that could see that you recover far more speedily than before. I cannot guarantee, but change will come.</b>" "<em>How-</em>" "<b>My time here is almost over. Find this healer, return them to their rightful place in living, and bring them to the captain before it's too late.</b>"</p><p> </p><p>After hearing the spirit had vanished after echoing her last words to them, Luigi shakingly waves to her. "<em>Wh-what sh-should we d-do now..?</em>" The light half mutters out, since their injuries were pretty severe and moving is going to cause a whole lot more pain once the green stache wakes up. "<em>I-I-a hope th-that she c-could help u-us recover...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... if she's death, I don't think she could do much outside of giving </em> <b> <em>us</em> </b> <em> the big sleep. ... something about her makes my blood run cold. ... and... truth be told, I didn't expect Death itself to be a woman.</em>" Mr. L turned a little red, scratching the back of his neck.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yeah... Sh-she's scary...</em>" Luigi felt scared of her presence, but after hearing his dark half, he started laughing at how his dark half reacted that Death was a woman. Though it was short lived when Mr. L gets frustrated and grabs the straps of his overalls. "<em>O-okay okay, I-I'll st-stop!</em>" At least it cheered the light half up with a soft chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... suppose, however, that death's always frightening. I think that's the one thing I do truly fear, but that's broad. Many are afraid of death. Granted, she isn't malicious... I don't think she is, anyway. ... explain to me </em> <b> <em>how</em> </b> <em> Death herself came to you.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>W-well... Uuhh...</em>" Luigi tries to remember <em> why </em> death had come to him and Hatty and explains the information to his dark half, letting him know about the balance of life and death of the whole world has been screwed up because of what King Boo and Lord Maya are doing the the crew mates, having that extractor machine that the professor built long ago in which the two were using it to turn <em> everyone </em> on the ship into ghosts, including the captain himself.</p><p> </p><p>Hearing the plumber explain that, Mr. L seemed to realize just how <em> important </em> it was to stop those two. "<em>... this means so much more than saving a kingdom. We have to save the </em> <b> <em>world</em></b><em>.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The light half nodded as he felt Mr. L let go of him. "<em>Y-yeah... I-it's th-that serious...</em>" He sighs heavily, since the weight of saving the whole world and not just a kingdom were on their shoulders. He sometimes thought about how much stress that puts on himself as well as Hatty. "<em>I-I-a just h-hope... Th-that she'll f-follow th-through on h-helping us h-heal...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Looking down to his own hands, Mr. L realized that this burden was something to be carried. "<em>... for what it's worth, I suppose it's good that we have one another to share that burden.</em>" With a sigh, he shook the tension out of his shoulders. "<em>I just hope that Professor Gadd has something so we're not strung up in bed.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>W-we shall s-see...</em>" With a frown, Luigi scratches the back of his head, thinking what to do and try to think of a plan, just as Boocille appears from afar and comes over to them with worry written on her face. "<em>Boocille!</em>" The light half lends out his arms and grabs hold of her, hugging her closely. "<em>Wh-where were y-you?</em>" He gently asks her as she hugs him close and having her tail wagging with happiness to see him.</p><p> </p><p>Boocille <em> flew </em> forward and hugged onto the two, wriggling and nuzzling her face against Luigi. "<em>Mr. L, Mr. Luigi, I'm sorry that I was gone!! I-I was hiding... t-that lady... s-s-she scares me... she doesn't like ghosts... s-she's Death, of course. S-she... I know what her intentions are for my father, I just... I'm worried her intent is the same with me. So I ke-keep away whenever she's nearby.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I-it's okay, a-at least you're a-alright...</em>" Luigi keeps hugging her, with the loving embrace that made the green plumber smile a bit. Of course, Mr. L couldn't help but smirk as he pats her softly on the head, since hugging both of them at the same time is a little difficult to do; especially how small she is as well as her small stubby mitts for hands.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I am alright, b-but I heard what she said about Hatty. ... I... I know what I said, about not being able to make another heart, but... in this case, I have to! Even though it'll make me weak and very faded for a while to come, I can't let Mr. Hatty die because of it! You both are making a great sacrifice, and I have to do the same. I hurt your body, so it's only fair that I give back and fix what I've broken.</em>" With a defiant huff, her body glowed a brilliant dandelion shine as she focused all of her energy... and in a climactic radiance- <em> poof </em> ! A large heart exploded out as her body seemed to be <em> very </em> see through.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... hff... huff... t-there...</em>" Her voice was barely a whisper now. "<em>Now... Take it. You'll wake up healed... But with the Witchdoctor, I can't help you any further than this.</em>" "<em>... Boocille...</em>" Mr. L was <em> shocked </em> that she would give <em> so </em> much as to her form so that they may save another life. "<em>... your generosity and sacrifice will not be forgotten.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>B-Boocille, n-no!!</em>" Seeing that Boocille had vanished and wasn't able to stop her on time, Luigi felt his own heart shatter into pieces; since he didn't want her to sacrifice herself in order to heal him. A companion that had been with and helped him since the beginning on the ship, now gone... "<em>B-Boocille...</em>" He whimpers, having tears come out again, not knowing if she's just lingering around or was completely gone for good; but hopes and prays that she is still around, just isn't detectable.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... she's still around, Luigi. She's just... very faded. Look, ahead of us.</em>" Mr. L put a hand on the plumber's shoulder, revealing the outline of the flowers and a weak smile with Boocille drifting to the ground. She was so weak now, she couldn't speak. "<em>We best let her rest. She's still here, but it's wise not to expend any more of her energy.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Upon looking ahead of both of them, Luigi sees Boocille, though just barely as he rushes over to her. Even though he would love to let her rest, the light half would want to at least comfort her as she rests peacefully and picks her up and holds her in his arms gently. "<em>I-I-a just... d-don't want h-her to f-feel alone... Wh-while she rests...</em>" Luigi comes back to Mr. L with Boocille in her arms, holding her gently and petting her head to help her feel more at peace as she sleeps.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing him drop down and hold the ghost close, Mr. L nodded in solace. "<em>I understand. You stay here with Boocille. She needs you. I'll find this Witch doctor if it's the last thing that I do. Hatty deserves to live, the ship and your family deserves to be saved... and I'm willing to put myself on the line for that.</em>" Mr. L was determined to bring that Witchdoctor back to life if it meant to save the captain of the once proud S.S. Friendship.</p><p> </p><p>While in the loading docks, Kev had been keeping tabs of Hatty's and Luigi's condition as the captain's health had gotten more stable for now with the constant ice water and icy IV drip, and seeing Mr. L fall asleep to help alleviate the pain on his torso.</p><p>With Boocille's help with generating a large ghostly heart, it had helped heal the physical body completely; which Kev actually saw this time as it appeared above Mr. L and dropped back down onto him to get absorbed into his body. "Hmm, interesting."</p><p> </p><p>Gradually, Luigi was coming to, though returned with the <em> greyed </em> eyes, staring dizzily ahead before rubbing his eyes and popping a crick from his neck. "<em>Nngh... feels good to not wake up in agony...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Kev chuckled a bit after seeing Mr. L wake up from his short nap. "Seems that little boo fella within had helped heal you completely." He said as he walks over to him and checks up on him, just in case before he can let the green plumber go.</p><p> </p><p>Sitting up a bit better, Mr. L took a deep breath and felt his rib settle and no longer hurt. "<em>Hff... well, it no longer hurts to take a deep breath. Phew... how long was I out?</em>" It was hard to tell time, but Gadd's computers had an automatic clock. 6:35 am... so a few hours, roughly seven hours worth of sleep. He felt <em> better </em>, for sure.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, it was a few hours since you've fallen asleep and had some good rest." Kev mentions, "Looks like you're good to go for now. Just be careful out there." The doc pats Mr. L on his shoulder to indicate that he's free to go.</p><p> </p><p>Hopping up out of bed, Mr. L rubbed his eyes and shook himself to life. "<em>... before I go, tell me. Who else on the ship was... a healer? I believe it is the term to be used. I need to find this man. I had a vision in my sleep... that Hatty's fever shall return with fatal consequences if I do not find this... man, woman? I'm not sure, but I must find this person.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm... I remember a Witchdoctor that lived on this ship long ago, though if that person is still here, the person might have been captured and turned into a ghost just like most of us." Kev sighs, "But, I don't remember where the Witchdoctor's cabin resides, or where the person's whereabouts currently are, I'm afraid."</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Drat. Can't ask Hatty, he's still delirious?</em>" Mildly so, but he may be able to answer the one question about someone he knew. It was best to ask nonetheless to ensure that Mr. L as well as his spectral helpers could find the Witchdoctor in a timely fashion.</p><p> </p><p>"Probably need to ask around to see if anyone knows the Witchdoctor's former whereabouts at least, giving you some kind of clue where that person would be." Kev informs Mr. L of what he can do to get the Witchdoctor.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Right. Thank you.</em>" Heading further into the docks where the others were housed, he looked about before speaking. "<em>Excuse me, crew members. I need urgent information. ... about a... Witchdoctor. Does anyone know of such a person?</em>" Fargus perked up and rolled up from his lounging pose on his bed. "I do! We go way back since we first joined the S.S. Friendship around the same time... I remember going to his cabin all the time... he was such a cool dude, really chilled out and a friendly person. I was hoping he would have avoided being caught, but I don't know if he managed to snake away. I can tell you exactly where his cabin was, but it might be especially dangerous if he's a ghost now. He's so attuned with spirit, he might be able to do <em> more </em> than the average ghost." <em> Well, that was reassuring. </em></p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> M-maybe w-we could bring F-Fargus w-with us to help out... </em> ) Luigi points out to Mr. L as he keeps the sleeping Boocille company and hears the whole thing. "Probably can help find the Witchdoctor's whereabouts if we can work together." Kirby wants to join in on helping to find the Witchdoctor as he looks up to Fargus. "What do you say, ol' pal? Want to help Luigi find that guy?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah!" Fargus cheerfully cried out, but Mr. L held up a hand and shook his head. "<em>No, no. It's far too dangerous to allow either of you to go out there with us. It would be reckless and would endanger too many people. Plus, there's only two poltergusts, and they require more intensive training to master. It's a shock that Hatty can work one as well as he can, but we cannot allow someone totally untrained to join the fight at this point. The threats are far too great, you could easily end up killed. This is something I have to do, alone.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, we're friends with our captain and everyone else on this ship, we want to help our friends, no matter the danger!" Kirby yells out to Mr. L, as some of the crew mates protest against not being able to help however they could, which made Luigi mentally smirk a bit. .oO( <em> Y-you s-see... Friends want t-to help each other out, n-no matter the circumstances... Which is why, I-I'm grateful to have such n-nice and l-loving friends... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... I'm sorry, but I cannot allow anyone to risk your lives on these matters. What I'd just experienced, it's much too taxing for someone who's entirely virgin to this experience to suffer such grand mistreatment. It isn't what I would wish on someone... while I appreciate your concern, I cannot allow that.</em>" He made his point clear, knowing that he didn't want anyone to be lost due to inexperience.</p><p> </p><p>The crew mates felt sad that Mr. L isn't letting them help him when in time of need, they walk off to secretly coordinate a plan to find ways to help the Italian plumber out without him knowing. Luigi felt bummed that Mr. L isn't letting the crew mates help them out when they want to as he keeps petting Boocille to keep her comforted.</p><p>Eventually, Mr. L had left through the pixelator television in the lab to land close by where Fargus had mentioned where the Witchdoctor was last resides, though even with the dark half taking control of the physical body, he wasn't able to land on the floor properly after exiting through the pixelator camera. This made Luigi snicker after knowing his landing was just as bad as when he was in control. .oO( <em> H-had a nice l-landing there? </em> )</p><p> </p><p>Being spat out from the pixelator and being dragged along the floor like a low bearing sandbag, Mr. L groaned out and pulled himself off of the ground. .oO( <em> Lovely. I needed a splinter in my cheek, that's what I've </em> <b> <em>always</em> </b> <em> wanted. </em> ) Plucking the piece of wood out and tossing it aside, he turned the flashlight of the Poltergust on and walked forward. .oO( <em> Fortunate that you're not the one that was spat out for something else's dessert like that. But, I digress. The most important thing is to find where this bastard is. </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> Oh, I-I've b-been th-through the pixelator l-like that before - m-multiple t-times I-a might add - a-and m-most of the time, n-not be able to land properly... </em> ) Luigi takes a deep breath and sighs heavily, since the pain he always felt when landing on his face and head as well as his butt at times when exiting one of the pixelator cameras. .oO( <em> I-a w-wouldn't know wh-where to begin l-looking... </em> ) The light and sweet plumber added in, feeling slightly helpless into locating the Witchdoctor.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the two buttons down on his overalls that Gadd had installed, Mr. L gets an idea. .oO( <em> I may need a second set of eyes. I might need you out here with me to give me an assist. </em> ) Twisting the light gold button, Luigi found himself out of their shared body, floating alongside Mr. L while being connected to his very core.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi felt himself ejected from his own body after Mr. L twisted the light gold button on his overalls, "<em>EEP!!</em>" The light half skids along the floor and shakes his head before getting up and floats besides Mr. L controlling their physical body. "<em>G-gee, th-thanks f-for warning m-me...</em>" Luigi felt scared even when he's in semi-transparent ghost form. He felt hesitant to go into rooms as he stayed close, though he worries about Boocille while he's outside of his body.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You're welcome.</em>" The man spoke dryly as he went up to a few of the cabin doors. Opening a few, many of the cabins were empty and in ruin. One had bare walls, another with pink walls... another that smelled oddly like chocolate. Strange. Then, Mr. L paused and held a hand up to ensure Luigi kept his whimpering down to a murmur. "<em>... I can hear drums. Do you hear them? They sound... exotic. Nothing home would offer.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Y-yeah... I-a hear it...</em>" Luigi gulps as he flies through a few of the rooms for a second, but couldn't find where the source of it is just yet, until he gets to the cabin that the drum sounds were coming from and didn't leave the cabin... Something was up when he didn't come back yet as Mr. L stayed outside the cabin and listened in through his light half. </p><p>After Luigi had popped through the walls to the cabin, he saw the Witchdoctor beating the drums, and noticed that the person was also a ghost just like the other crew mates. "<em>H-hello..?</em>" The light half waves to the Witchdoctor with timidness, worried what the person would do.</p><p> </p><p>Initially, said Witchdoctor didn't <em> hear </em> Luigi... but not to say that he didn't <em> sense </em> the man. Slowly, he stopped playing and set beguiled and feathery sticks down before slowly floating up and spun around to Luigi. "<em>Ar-har-har-har! Welcome, little soul, to my little shop of horrors!</em>" Holding his arms out, the wicked mask that was mounted on the doctor's face painted a gruesome picture as around him, tiny skulls danced and chanted while lights and smoke surrounded him.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Here, I make the greatest of elixirs and medicines known all to man for the glory of the great God-King Boo and Maya... and </em> <b> <em>you</em> </b> <em> are just what I need!</em>" A strong hand gripped Luigi by the wrist and yanked him forward. The Witchdoctor tossed Luigi aside, letting him spin wildly before snapping his fingers. Around him, a prison cell of bones wrapped about him, keeping him trapped.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>EEP!!</em>" Luigi squeaks as he gets pulled and then spun around; making him feel dizzy before he gets trapped in a spectral rope of bones wrapped around him, as well as a cage made out of the same material. "<em>L-let me go!</em>" He whines, as he struggles to get free, though he gets pulled back away, which Mr. L felt thanks to the spectral tether and behind the Witchdoctor, as he felt scared of what the specter would make an elixir from him for the two evil kings. "<em>P-please... I-a d-don't want t-to b-become an elixir..!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Feeling that <em> tug </em> on his very soul, Mr. L <em> bolted </em> through the door and kicked it open. "<em>LET HIM GO!!</em>" "<em>Oh, and what's this? You have a knight in shining armor, is that it? How adorable..~</em>" The Witchdoctor laughed as the specter glared at the dark half in the flesh while keeping Luigi behind him. "<em>This will be good practice, I must say!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi cries out to Mr. L, "<em>H-help me..!!</em>" The spectral light half felt sad that now he's the damsel in distress, as he felt scared of what the Witchdoctor will do to him while he kept on struggling to break free, to no avail.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Get your hands off of him!</em>" "<em>Or, what? You're going to suck me up with that darling little toy of yours?</em>" The witchdoctor chuckled with Mr. L readying the machine. Before he could act, the doctor summoned flames from the ground- brilliant and green- before shooting them at the man who was forced away. As Mr. L ran away, the orbs of flame came to <em> life </em> , revealing them to be tribal themed Boos, decked in war paint. "<em>Kre-ke-ke-ke!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Now, as for you~... you'll become the perfect little specimen!</em>" The doctor brought the cage over to an oversized cauldron that bubbled and steamed. "<em>This will get you cut down to the perfect size!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>As he was above the oversized cauldron, Luigi felt his spectral heart to <em> sink, </em> as he squirms as much as he could to get out of the sticky situation. "<em>L-let me out..!</em>" Luigi cries out as his efforts to escape were futile. The tribal boos come after Mr. L in preventing him from getting any closer and would have-to deal with them first.</p><p> </p><p>Forced away and having to stun these insanely fast specters, Mr. L was forced to take care of these fiends firstly, leaving Luigi alone... this gave the Witchdoctor enough time to drop Luigi into the pot. After some thrashing and bubbling, he pulled the now <em> tiny </em> cage and minuscule plumber up with a chuckle. "<em>Ha! Now that's some serious shrinkage! Look at you, you pathetic thing..~</em>" Opening the cage and shaking Luigi out, he was swift to grab a bottle and shoving the poor man into it. While the specter was tiny yet, he was <em> ingredient sized </em> now.</p><p> </p><p>After being dropped into the pot and trying to escape from it, the thrashing stopped after a few seconds before he was pulled out from it, having lost consciousness while laying in the cage before being shoved into a small bottle. The tiny specter floats in the middle of the bottle, not moving once a cork seals him in as the spiritual tether was weakened from the traumatic experience.</p><p>The boos were enough to distract Mr. L, as the dark half felt <em> everything </em> the light half went through in the cauldron and gets enraged from what the Witchdoctor did, and batter most of the boos into submission and gets captured into the vacuum chamber.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You skull-adorned bastard!! You'll pay for this dearly!</em>" "<em>I'd love to see you try, worm!</em>" He chuckled, holding his hands up... from around him, voodoo dolls sprung to life that were armed with pins and needles. "<em>Have fun with my dollies, you little waste! Funny how you think you're just a badass, when you're just a frustrated manservant who's destined to fail. All you are is an echo of frustration that can never be his own entity. You're a parasite, a worthless leech that exists only to drain and fight only when you see fit!</em>" "<em>I am not!!</em>" Mr. L became enraged, starting to battle the voodoo dolls, but that was far easier said than done.</p><p> </p><p>Of course the remaining boos fought alongside the possessed voodoo dolls against Mr. L, as they fought with the needles as their own swords. Though the Witchdoctor holds onto the bottle and looks at it for a second as he thinks of a nice concoction of an elixir that can help King Boo and Lord Maya and quickly gets to work on getting the ingredients together, with Luigi being the main ingredient. With all the distractions, Mr. L has limited time to save his original and light half from the Witchdoctor.</p><p> </p><p>Good God, Luigi was about to be turned into a remedy for <em> something </em> awful! Knowing that time was quickly running out to save Luigi, Mr. L was grasping for straws to find a way to get him freed and safe from harm. Looking about, he could see hanging moss and dangling decorations up above his head. Turning the vacuum up to that, he pulled himself <em> up </em> and began to swing away from the voodoo dolls. The unusual, warped and unreal room felt domed at the top with the spectral influence, as though the room itself would warp and shape itself anew.</p><p> </p><p>Swinging forward, he <em> blasted </em> himself forward onto a set of shelves, causing bottles to clatter and crash to the floor which caught the doctor's attention. "<em>ACK!! You damned fool! You're destroying all of my potions!</em>" Noting that this was annoying and distracted the doctor, Mr. L smirked slyly. "<em>Oh, does that upset you? </em> "Turning his blaster towards the shelves, a good <em> puff </em> caused the bottles to fly and fall all over the place. "<em>How's this on for size?</em>" "<em>AAUGH!! YOU IDIOT, I'M GOING TO BOIL YOU LIKE A PRAWN!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The boos gets knocked back a bit after the burst function from the vacuum was released, though the voodoo dolls had been knocked loose of its strands. The potions that crash onto the floor causes fumes from them to linger around the whole cabin, causing a whole host of problems for the Witchdoctor, the boos and Mr. L. Luckily that Luigi was sealed inside the bottle and is protected from the fumes.</p><p> </p><p>A few of the Boos coughed out as they were caught in the cloud... some became <em> horrendously </em> bloated and puffed up, their voices deepening. "<em>Euugh... I can't move..!</em>" The large Boo floated up and got stuck at the ceiling, wriggling uselessly. One Boo floated to the ground with the grace of a dead fish, slightly twitching. "<em>C... c-... can't... move...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Mr. L held his breath before pulling his shirt over his face. Crud, maybe this could backfire if he isn't careful! This just meant that he had to move quicker! Rushing across the shelves to race away from the cloud, the Witchdoctor waved his fists angrily. "<em>Son of a-- get back here, you green clad grate on my nerves!!</em>" "<em>D-aaagh!</em>" Seeing the angered witchdoctor rush towards him, he had to duck away from sharp bone needles flying towards him and pierce into the walls.</p><p> </p><p>Though, the potions were taking effect on Mr. L, even though he has his green shirt covering his mouth and big nose. What little it protected wasn't enough to prevent the effects from coming on to him as the loopiness came as well as his clothing started to shift in color to a darker green color for his shirt and even more dark blue for his overalls; his gloves were turning from white to darker grey. Though, fairy wings spout out from his body as well as sparkles... How humiliating!</p><p> </p><p>Feeling his head spinning on his neck, he blinked before shaking his head. Ugh, he felt so <em> floaty</em>... considering he <em> was </em> floating! What was that tingling noise? He looked about, spotting the Witchdoctor pause before he cracked a smirk and started to belt out laughter. "<em>Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Fairy boy, look at you!!</em>" Confused at first, Mr. L looked back and saw girly, glittery wings fluttering on his back. "<em>What the--?! Quit laughing, you rube!!</em>" Demanding that the laughter stop, the doctor was too distracting with laughter, pointing at the wings while slapping against the bend of his tail. Turning red across the face, Mr. L stopped to realize that... hey, maybe he could use this to his <em> advantage </em> despite his hurt pride.</p><p> </p><p>While The Witchdoctor was laughing hysterically from Mr. L's feminine appearance from the potion effects, the small bottle with Luigi inside teeters on the edge of the cauldron as the dark side took advantage of the Witchdoctor's distraction and tries to knock the mask off of the person. Though, the boos were having problems moving from the potion effects, which made them vulnerable from the dark green plumber.</p><p> </p><p>Firstly, Mr. L spots the Boo floating at the top of the ceiling like a dead fish, snagging him by the tail with the Poltergust and begins to spin him around. Before Witchdoctor would react and recover from his laughing fit, he was <em> whacked </em> in the face by the bloated Boo, knocking his protective mask off, revealing the face beneath to be a bit older and weathered. "<em>ACK!! DAMN YOU!!</em>" "<em>Ha! Serves you right!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With the Witchdoctor vulnerable, Mr. L captures the bloated boo and flashes his strobulb at him to stun the doc so he couldn't escape the poltergust. As Mr. L had snagged onto the Witchdoctor's ghost tail and tries to fly away from the suction pull, the cauldron had gotten knocked around a couple times; having the small bottle tip and fall into the boiling and opaque liquid and sinks into it, losing sight of poor ghostly Luigi.</p><p> </p><p>Not even noticing this at the initial onslaught between himself and the Witchdoctor, Mr. L was struggling with this surprisingly durable specter. "<em>You won't get away with your crimes, you quack!</em>" "<em>Who are you to dare calling a quack, fairy man?!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>The last remaining boos snicker after hearing the Witchdoctor humiliate Mr. L, though the dark Italian plumber keeps trying to stun and snag the Witchdoctor's specter tail and slams him on the floor a couple times to knock some <em> sense </em> into him. After a few attempts, the Witchdoctor was finally captured into the poltergust chamber and focused his attention from the remaining boos; which didn't take long to capture them as well.</p><p>As soon as all the boos and the Witchdoctor got captured, Mr. L tried to look for the small bottle with Luigi inside, but it finally dawned on him... He can feel the spectral tether was getting weaker and the pain from his light half, as the tether was leading right into the cauldron's boiling and opaque liquid... Uh oh.</p><p> </p><p>Gasping and realizing Luigi was being parboiled like a tomato, he rolled up his sleeves and spit in his hands before diving them down into the bubbling liquid. Trying to tiptoe into a cauldron far too tall for him, he ended up falling in, fully submerged before realizing the situation. He holds his breath as the dark half rocks the pot and tips it over, dumping all of the cauldron's boiling liquid onto the floor and freeing himself as he coughs and clenches his chest as well as holding the bottle in the other hand. After shrieks of pain and an explicative, he felt his whole body reddened from the contact with cooking liquids, even under his clothing. Popping the cap, he let the steam come free from within. "<em>Luigi!! Are you alright?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After popping the cork off from the small bottle, the steam came out from it as it got foggy from within, though it took a bit for the glass to become clear again and showed that there was no response from Luigi as he was unconscious. Even though Mr. L tried to get Luigi out from the bottle by shaking it upside down, his light half wasn't moving towards the lid whatsoever, as if there was a <em> spell </em> on him that kept him inside and at the current position of floating in the center of the bottle.</p><p> </p><p><em> Drat! </em> Guess he had to store the bottle aside for now and get back himself... it was eerie now, feeling this... <em> alone </em> . His mind was quiet, all that was there was the dying heat of the boiling liquid on the floor and distant cackling. "<em>... let's get you fixed up, Luigi.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After putting corking the bottle and putting it in one of his seemingly bottomless pockets, Mr. L treks off to find either a mirror or a pixelator television to get back to the loading docks while his body is wet and hot from the boiling liquid. The eerie silence within his mind made Mr. L felt uneasy, especially when the pain on the skin from the boiling liquid would send anyone into shock and no one to comfort him... Except for the evil boos and ghosts that were laughing at his misfortune, especially after the potion effects had gotten more potent as he drip dries from the boiling liquid. But, now he's even more colorful and sparkly!</p><p> </p><p>Feeling himself grow slightly more dizzy and the bubbles seeping into his skin, he <em> did </em> manage to pass by a mirror, but it was no appropriate size to use the Gameboy based teleportation device. Looking at himself, he burned a deep red, noticing that his hair was a flamboyant golden shade of blonde and outfit was a flushed <em> pink </em> with his wings much more iridescent and allowing him to buzz with a trail of golden glitter that trailed behind him. A few Boos were in such the throws of laughter, they were solid and bashing their hands on the wood below them. Angered, Mr. L grabbed an empty bottle nearby and <em> chucked </em> it at the Boo, cracking it against his head- shattering it- and knocking the one out as the others fled. "<em>Bastards.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>It took a little while, but Mr. L had found a small room close by that has a larger mirror inside; luckily it was in one of the nearby cabins that was mainly a small bedroom with a dresser just under the mirror. The hot and sticky mess on him made it harder to walk, since having his clothing rubbing his burning skin so sensitive to even the slightest touch.</p><p> </p><p>It felt like he got a wet sunburn as everything soaked in... eventually, it felt like his overalls were shrinking? Oh, hope these weren't cold wash only. This was going to <em> stink </em> . But, at least this Gameboy device would... Mr. L looked down, noticing some smoking and sputtering from the device with a red triangle enclosed exclamation point flashing on the screen. "<em>Oh, no no no, come </em> <b> <em>on</em></b><em>!</em>" He tried to open the hatch and salvage the batteries, but the whole system was flooded and the batteries were <em> cooked </em> . "<em>... son of a--</em>" During this, <em> frills </em> began to form on his overalls. "<em>... you've got to be joking.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Welp, looks like the only way back is to find a pixelator television somewhere nearby, since the GameBoo Advance SP had fried from the boiling elixir. Luckily there was one somewhere nearby in a different cabin, but the humiliation just made Mr. L's pride had gone down even more so when the boos and ghosts couldn't help but laugh at his hurt pride.</p><p> </p><p>Trying to ignore the chuckling and pointing, he felt an unusual breeze around his thighs as his overalls puffed into <em> adorable </em> pompom pant legs with white, frilly lace about them. The pocket in the front of his overalls became a cute rabbit with fuzz along with his hair lengthening with two small pigtails and a flush across his face. Fists clenched tight, he drifted with his pride <em> mortally </em> wounded as he buzzed frantically into the next cabin over.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Kre-ke-ke-kehh..! O-oh, augh, my stoma-ah-ach..! I can-I can't laugh anymore..!! Braa-ha-ha-ke-ke-ke..! H-he looks like a pansy!</em>" The Boos were in fits, wiping their tears and drool away after laughing themselves to choking.</p><p> </p><p>Soon as he checked the next couple cabins down the hallway, there was a pixelator television inside to travel through, though this cabin was mostly bare and falling apart like most of the other cabins. Without any time to waste, Mr. L pulled the lever on it to activate it and travel back to the lab directly in hopes of getting the Witchdoctor freed from the ghostly strings and back to life.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Mr. L appeared once again before the remainder of the crew. They were swift to come up to him and paused, surprised at his... outfit change! Simmering with <em> pure </em> fury with how red his face was and undignified he shuddered, he looked to E. Gadd with a crazed demeanor. "<em>I swear, if you so much as crack a laugh, I'll take this bottle of Luigi and crack you upside the head with it. I need you to bring back the Witchdoctor so we can save Hatty's life. After, I'm going to </em> <b> <em>put him back in his ghostly state after I strangle the color out of him just so I can calm my nerves!</em></b>" He spat through his teeth, and in lieu of his cute outfit, was trembling in anger. "<b><em>I at least need something to break before I break someone's neck.</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>"Now now, no need to get angry over this." Gadd tries to calm Mr. L down, though he tries to hold back his laughter as much as he could. "Take your poltergust and empty it into the ghost vault behind you. It'll keep the boos locked away while the Witchdoctor would be sent through the extractor." Elvin Gadd points to the extractor device directly connected to the ghost vault and would automatically activate once detected by a ghostly crew mate inside the vault.</p><p>Though what neither of them realize is that, the poltergust G-00 got overheated from the boiling liquid and would need to cool down before it can be turned on again, as well as the professor noticing the GameBoo Advance SP soaked and asks Mr. L to hand it over to get it fixed.</p><p> </p><p>Setting the poltergust within the machine, Mr. L was muttering to himself, feeling the pixie wings jutting from his back occasionally twitching and flickering off rounds of golden glitter. Pushing it down into the contraption, he watched as the Boo was locked away and the Witchdoctor was being processed through the converter. "<b><em>I can't promise that I won't want to punch him so hard that his tiki will wince the second he steps out. I don't have much in this world, but what I will have- dammit- is my sense of pride back even if it kills me.</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>Just as when Mr. L muttered those harsh words, The Witchdoctor had gotten spat out from the extractor machine and one of the crew mates caught him before crashing into the wall. Though a few of the other crew mates keep their eye on Mr. L so he would lash out at the Witchdoctor and would step in when necessary. "The sooner you calm yourself, the sooner you'll have that spell off of you." The professor tries to keep holding back his laughter as he works on fixing the GameBoo Advance SP.</p><p> </p><p>The GameBoo was set aside with steam still rising up from the back of the small device. Seems like it may need to sit in some rice for a bit, or just sit out and dry for a time. Seems that fishing for the bottle bit Mr. L in the ass when he dove a bit too far forward. He was <em> so </em> ready to raise his hand and crack the doctor one, but he found Fargus and Kazu holding him in place. "<em>Let it go.</em>" "<em>Keep it together..! It's alright...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Calm yourself! This is no time for fighting and having your anger build up over this." Kazu grips onto Mr. L's overalls by the straps from behind to keep him in place. As they hold Mr. L back, The Witchdoctor wakes up after Flappy Falppington caught him in his arms and set him down gently onto the metal floor. "Hey, Witchdoctor, how are you feeling?" The vampire asks nicely to him.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Uuugh...</em>" The man shook his head and pulled his mask away, rubbing his eyes and feeling the world around him doing cartwheels. "<em>I feel... not terrific but not terrible either. </em> What... what happened? I feel so... unusual." The fog must've been intense in his head after being a bit exposed to his own elixirs a bit, not even noticing Mr. L's unusual attire.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm glad, though we do have a dire situation with the captain and need your help." Flappy informs The Witchdoctor, since that was a higher priority to deal with before having to deal with Mr. L and his hurt pride along with Luigi being trapped in the small bottle.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking, his senses started to restart and he saw Mr. L, Luigi... and the memories all came back. "... Gaia's bones! I'm so sorry, Mr... ah, s-sir." The Witchdoctor carefully got up, now wielding his flamboyantly decorated walking stick. Atop of it was a skull with solid gold teeth and ember eyes, revealing his lineage as well as a fortification of his supernatural healing powers. "And... Hatty is in peril, you said? Where is the captain?"</p><p> </p><p>"This way." Flappy leads the Witchdoctor to where the captain is while Mr. L was left back in the lab, since his pride was hurt so much from his appearance, he didn't want to leave it to face even more humiliation and huffs.</p><p>As soon as the Witchdoctor came over to Hatty, he was still drenched in the ice bath while Maggie tried to keep the water cold to keep the temperature down. "It's good to see you again, Witchdoctor. Hatty's in trouble, and I don't know how long I can keep the temperature down..." Maggie's voice was filled with worry and sadness, as her ice abilities were running at max.</p><p> </p><p>The Witchdoctor saw Hatty in this gruesome state. "<em>Step back. Doctor, remove his tubes. I cannot have anything but silence and no intrusions of his flesh.</em>" Obeying this supernatural healer, the IV was removed and Hatty was taken from the ice bath onto a dry bed. Placing his hands across Hatty's chest, Witchdoctor felt about at his liver, groaning softly.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... his liver is large, heavy. Not because of something physical, but his soul is fighting something. It's splitting into pieces because of this battle, and it's rotting his liver away. If this keeps up, his liver will die, then he will. </em> " "What do we do then?" " <em> I must heal him, but I cannot remove what this is...</em>" Feeling at Hatty's heart and head, he sighed. "<em>... he's been born with this in him. I don't know what it is, but it's old. It's ancient, something that predates my people. What I can do is force unity between these parts of his soul and stop his sickness, but I cannot remedy him totally. His soul may fight again, but I know that I can save him.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm... Something genetic it seems, from what you're saying." Kev mentions about something he was born with. "If it's ancient, how come no one had known about it until recently?" Nikola questions as the crew mates try to figure out what's happening with the captain as they wait for the Witchdoctor to do his magic.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>It's so ancient that it's been forgotten. An enigma at this point, however, it now paved away to what you see here. Something here gave Hatty an exposure to trigger this event, and just the right amount, to make his soul fight itself. It's like a cancer, he has, of his very spirit. A tumor within it is growing and changing him, burdening his spiritual balance. If it continues unmitigated, he will not only die, but his soul would never find rest as it would fight into forever.</em>" Pulling down his staff, he holds the skull above Hatty's liver, causing the skin to shine in a small symbol. "<em>... I don't recognize this sort of duality in his soul, but it is paternal- passed down between the men of his family. Had he been born a woman, he would not suffer such a malady.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"... so, what can be done to fix him." "<em>This will take time to temporarily unify his soul and treat the symptom, but I cannot cure this. This is something far beyond what I can succeed.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"At least this would help keep him alive until we can find the cure at least..." Nikola worries about the captain as he sighs heavily and wonders if they'll ever escape their once proud and home for all of the crew, turned into a ghostly haunted ship. "It'll be better than leaving Hatty untreated and left him to die." Kev sighs as he and the crew mates step back to let the Witchdoctor have some space.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>It may take some time for me to remedy this and see the captain restored for the time being, so get comfortable... I cannot allow him to continue suffering with this cooking fever and tremors.</em>" The Witchdoctor had seen cases close to this before, with the soul doing battle with something foreign, or within itself. Only this time, it was so alien that he could not figure a way to expel this excess darkness.</p><p> </p><p>The crew mates go and rest as they wait for the Witchdoctor to perform his magic on Hatty to help him recover from a foreign darkness that's taking over his body that no one knew he had, even though it's a temporary fix, but it would help keep Hatty from succumbing to whatever was killing him from within.</p><p>It took a few hours, but the ritual for treating the darkness within Hatty had been successfully subsided for now as his appearance had mostly gone back to normal. Mr. L, on the other hand, had-to wait impatiently in the lab for the Witchdoctor to come back to reverse the potion effects from his body and release ghostly Luigi from the tiny imprisonment of the small bottle.</p><p> </p><p> As Hatty was being seen by the supernatural physician, Mr. L managed to lock himself in a small utility closet just around the small of the lab and <em> refused </em> to come out despite everyone trying to coax him from ducking away. "<em>Mr. L! Please, come out! A ghost might be in there, waiting to attack! </em> " "<b><em>I'll take my chances! I'm not coming out until I can be fixed!</em></b>" "<em>Ugh, drama queen.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Without Luigi helping to calm Mr. L down, his own anger builds from within himself; in which the dark illusion within the corrupted fabric senses the anger close by as it wants to come back. Though with the fabric being locked away, there's no chance of it coming in contact with Luigi's physical body again.</p><p>As Mr. L waits in the closet, the Witchdoctor comes back to the lab to try to find Mr. L, who apparently locked himself in the utility closet to avoid any more embarrassment from anyone; though Gadd kept snickering quietly from Mr. L's appearance and helps point to where he's hiding.</p><p> </p><p>"... where did Mr. Happypants run off to?" "He's locked himself in the closet and is refusing to come out. Doesn't help that some of us got the giggles..." The crew seemed at a loss as the Witchdoctor rolled his eyes. "<em>So dramatic...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Knocking at the door, he was immediately answered by a stern 'go away' by Mr. L. "<em>Sir, come out so I can at least fix this before you get stuck like that. Big baby.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Elvin Gadd tries to help but keep quiet after Mr. L <em> finally </em> gets out of the closet, not knowing that the corrupted fabric close by him is actually reacting from the dark side's anger and hurt pride. "Don't worry, you'll be back to normal." The professor added after he had finished repairing the GameBoo Advance SP as he relaxes on the chair.</p><p> </p><p>As the dark fabric seemed to try to crawl its way to Mr. L, luckily, the Witchdoctor pulled the sparkly man out before it could come into contact with him. But for sure, it would continue to lay in wait for its opportunity to strike once again. "Ack, this doesn't seem that bad. I can help you out of this state easily. You act as though you were turned into a <em> frog</em>." "<em>You act as though you were turned into a frog... whyIoughta...</em>" Mr. L mumbled to himself with a low groan.</p><p> </p><p>"Now cool yourself, The Witchdoctor is here to help you." Gadd mentions as the small bottle of Luigi is sitting next to the professor, since even he couldn't get the light half out of the bottle. "You'll be fine, there's nothing to be ashamed of." The professor smirks a bit as he grabs the bottle and holds it in his hand for safe keeping for now.</p><p> </p><p>Noticing the smirk, Mr. L turned a sour scowl at the professor, trying to fan down his wings and press them more behind him. Drat it! He just wanted to not look like a child's costume anymore! "<em>Rrgh... whatever gets Luigi to normal size and makes me look less like a child.</em>" "Luigi- oh, goodness! That poor man's a pipsqueak... seems I have my work cut out for me with rectifying this madness."</p><p> </p><p>As the Witchdoctor starts to work his <em> magic </em> on Mr. L, the embarrassment of even being around the guy made the dark half felt awkward and uneasy as he just wanted to hide again, but he had-to stay out in order to get the potion effects reversed. Luckily that the tiny light half ghost of Luigi wasn't aware of what's going on while still locked away in the bottle, but could feel <em> everything </em> that his dark half is going through, even while asleep. It took a little while, but the transformation of Mr. L and their shared physical body had returned back to normal, with all the effects had disappeared on himself and his clothing, as well as his hair colors are back to being brown/almost black... Though Mr. L had-to drink a nullify potion in order to get the nullify the other potion effects; and boy, it tasted <em> nasty! </em> Well, at least it helped a lot and probably gained his pride back again. Though while The Witchdoctor had helped Mr. L transform back to normal, he sensed something inside the physical body that was foreign, yet it was peaceful and dormant.</p><p> </p><p>Sniffing the potion to rectify his cutesy state was hard enough, but having to drink that nasty was something <em> else </em> . Groaning nauseously, he held his big nose and guzzled it down as quickly as he could so the taste wouldn't get stuck in his mouth. "<em>Ugh... gross.</em>" "I know, but it's medicine, not candy." "<em>So long as I'm back to normal... what about Luigi?</em>" "I'll need to wake him up first. There's a spell in that bottle keeping him up... where did you put it?" "<em>On the desk near the lab so he wouldn't get shaken up or anymore traumatized. ... but how did you know that a spell keeps him asleep?</em>" "I used to use it all the time for certain elixirs with frogs or bugs being needed for it. It's more humane than throwing them into the cauldron."</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the Witchdoctor and Mr. L went out to get the bottle, Elvin Gadd had the small bottle next to him as he went to work after grabbing it from just outside the lab, since he doesn't want to just let it sit around unsupervised, but Mr. L didn't know that it was moved until he went to go retrieve the bottle. Whoops, looks like that the dark half wasn't informed of this, and wasn't too thrilled about that and gets into the lab to see the professor with the small bottle next to him on his desk to keep it safe.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning and realizing that he had to face the professor, Mr. L walked into the lab as quietly as he could so he wouldn't be seen, lest he had to deal with the ramblings of that old bastard. Thankfully, that silly appearance and awful outfit were gone, but surely Gadd hadn't forgotten about it <em> yet</em>.</p><p> </p><p>As Mr. L and the Witchdoctor walked into the lab, the professor was working on his computer to do more research while the small bottle was on the desk right next to him, though not on the edge so it wouldn't be knocked off to the floor easily. Once Gadd hears the plumber come in, he stops and turns around to face him. "Welcome back. glad you're able to come out again after what those potion effects did to your appearance." This time, Gadd wasn't smirking nor laughing, he was being serious and grabbed the bottle with the sleeping ghostly Luigi inside it. "Is this what you're looking for?"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, quite. The doctor needs to fix Luigi and put him back to his original shape and size... and that he's been knocked out with some sort of sleeping spell. Makes sense since, in his warped state, a smaller ghost could easily pose a flight risk.</em>" Mr. L took the bottle in his hand, looking at Luigi from the bottom. "<em>... it's odd to see him this small. While he is a puny pest otherwise, I see now... the sort of hardships he goes through to save everyone.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"It's not as easy as it looks, when all the hardships Luigi has-to go through in order to help and save everyone he cares for, especially his own twin brother." Gadd shows a smile to Mr. L, "Overcoming his fears to save his loved ones is the most brave thing he can ever do, and you should know that, Mr. L." The professor hops off the chair and walks over to the plumber and pats him on his side. "Even when he's a ghost himself, he's scared and timid; especially after knowing that he turned into one." Gadd remembers seeing that first hand earlier, as the computer has the recording of the whole incident from within the ghost vault on file.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down to the small, old man, Mr. L takes these words to heart. He knows <em> firsthand </em> now just the <em> extent </em> of toils and troubles that Luigi has to go through in order to save his friends, family and even complete strangers that are swiftly becoming more friends. It felt like a mountain of pressure crushed down on his chest and shoulders, like a mountain of responsibility smashed down on him all at once. "<em>... I can see that, for sure. While I have mocked him for his fears, I can see why he'd be so trepidatious about these specters, why he'd be so terrified.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Since you and Luigi are one in the same person, both of you as well as Hatty would need to help each other out in these trying times; especially when the stakes are the highest they've ever been." The professor gives out some helpful advice. "Especially when King Boo and Maya fella wants to destroy the life and death balance that they're unknowingly doing, thanks to what they've done on this ship." He mentions further as he goes back to his chair and hops onto it. "Make sure that you'll take care of Luigi, and he will take care of you; because he truly cares for his friends and family."</p><p> </p><p>Nodding softly in that moment of solemn reflection, he sighed out with a throaty huff. "<em>... you're right. With Hatty now having a spiritual issue, maybe once those two are put in their place, he can get better. ... whatever it is, that... dark, misty thing... Death, she is, and whatever her intentions are, I just hope it isn't towards anyone else but them.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"Also, it's best to try to keep Boocille around as well, because even though she had been using so much of her energy to keep you alive, the odds of survival with her is much higher than without." He mentions as the WItchdoctor had heard about Boocille, though he hopes the little boo is okay and hasn't heard from her in a while.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Boocille? Who is..?</em>" The Witchdoctor craned his neck into the door as he made his entrance to retrieve the bottle. "<em>You were taking a while to get that bottle, and I wish to ensure that the specter of Luigi has not been injured in any way... who is this Boocille?</em>" "<em>... that would be King Boo's renegade daughter. She's helped us... an incredible amount. Though currently, she's sacrificed a lot of her own energy in order to ensure that we could save </em> <b> <em>you</em> </b> <em> from your enslaved state before Hatty's fever would cook him alive.</em>" Hearing this, the Witchdoctor first took the bottle. "<em>I'll get right to work with undoing this spell on Luigi... I can return energy to her swiftly and ensure her own recovery. If she's one that has betrayed her tyrannical father to save the nadir, she is worth saving herself.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"We thank you for helping us out, Witchdoctor." Gadd gives a nice smile to him as the Witchdoctor takes the bottle from Mr. L. "We all need to help each other out, no matter the cost." Gadd turns around to his computer and types away, as he continues to research and find more information about this Maya fellow, but nothing is coming up from the history logs from anywhere of this person.</p><p> </p><p>Heading out along with Mr. L in tow, Witchdoctor decides to show how he undoes spiritual ailments to the darker side of Luigi's spirit. "<em>Watch closely as I work my ways.</em>" Holding the scepter above the bottle, the skull's amber eyes glowed and began to draw out some sort of impurity that stained Luigi's soul, drawing it in and proving to have an antitoxic effect on him. Slowly, the soul grew larger, larger... until- <em> POP! </em> The bottle itself exploded, and a normal sized Luigi was soon before them and began rising to consciousness. "<em>Behold...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After the bottle exploded into sharp glass shards, Mr. L had-to block his face from the glass to not get any injuries on his face; since Luigi wouldn't have liked his face all scared up from the shards. Though, once he uncovers himself, Luigi was waking up after back to being normal size again, as if he ate a mushroom to grow in size. "<em>Wh--... Wh-what happened..?</em>" The light half felt a little dizzy, but shook his head to get rid of the dizzy feeling.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ah, there he is... Mr. Luigi! Rise and shine!</em>" The Witchdoctor patted the ghost's back... he revealed to have the <em> unusual </em> ability to come into physical contact with ghosts at any time, so long as they were visible, irrespective of their state. "<em>You had us worried... I'm so sorry for what happened to you, I was not in my right state of mind. I shrank you and nearly turned you into a you bisque! However, now you're back to your... well, almost normal self.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi jumps from the Witchdoctor patting his shoulder and flies behind Mr. L controlling his physical body, though looking over his shoulder in and shivers a bit. The light half notices that the Witchdoctor has apologized and has helped get free from the spell he was cast upon as he flies back over to the WItchdoctor and circles around once before floating in front of him. "<em>Th-thank you for f-freeing me... A-and helped H-Hatty from c-certain d-doom...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>It's just part of my job... seeing Hatty overcome by that horrible malady, I couldn't stand back and let that happen...</em>" Pulling away the terrifying mask he wore, he revealed the more aged face beneath. He had scars across his lips, eyes, and one eye was a milky white- blind and scarred. "<em>You're a good man, Luigi. From what little I know, from what I've seen, you and your other half are heroes here... I only know about your spiritual division as I've seen this before. However, what is new is Hatty's condition. I must perform a ritual each time it worsens, but for now, it's calm. Now, I must see to this Boocille woman. I must aid her and return her strength.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Just seeing the Witchdoctor's face made Luigi feel uneasy, but his gentle words made the specter feel better. Upon hearing that he wants to see Boocille, he scratches the back of his neck as he looks away a bit, "<em>W-well... H-here's the thing...</em>" The specter plumber looks back to Mr. L; showing where she <em> really </em> is at without saying a word.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>It isn't as easy as that sounds. Boocille hides within our physical body, tucked away between fat and liver- where I believe the soul itself to be. She's within there... I don't know how to get to her, she's so quiet right now. She must be so sapped of strength.</em>" "<em>I believe I can work with that.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>O-okay. Hope she'll f-feel better...</em>" Luigi floats back to his physical body and hides behind Mr. L as he waits for the Witchdoctor to help Boocille recover much more quickly while she is dormant within him. Even though he wants back in his own physical body and be there when Boocille wakes up, but he'll have-to wait for Mr. L to decide to have his light half get pulled back inside.</p><p> </p><p>Firstly, Mr. L doesn't want Luigi to feel some sort of <em> direct </em> pain, not knowing if this would hurt or not. Holding the scepter down, Witchdoctor focused on finding this little spirit before the eyes on the skull glowed again. " <em> Found her... she's very faded and exhausted. If she'd given just a tiny bit more, she would have faded away.</em>" He took a breath and rose his arms before focusing down with a meditative hum... slowly, an orb formed before his own stomach, welling with brilliance. It was small, but bright. Huffing out an incantation, the small orb flew into Mr. L's stomach and went <em> into </em> him. He could feel an <em> invigoration </em> crash through him that rippled through each nerve of his form... then, he could hear a soft yawn and stirring. "<em>... she's awake, I can hear her.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>With hearing that Boocille would be okay, Luigi wanted to hug her to help her feel comforted. But he decided to sit on his physical body's head for now while he waits. "<em>I-I'm-a glad sh-she'll be o-okay...</em>" He whimpers, while waiting for Mr. L to let him back in his own body.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down to the light gold button, Mr. L looked back up to Luigi. "<em>It only seems fair that you get to feel the solid ground again. I'm positive that Hatty would be more thrilled to see you than myself anyway. </em>"Turning the light gold button on his overalls, Mr. L was pulled into the back of Luigi's mind as the original owner of the body was returned to his flesh and bone.</p><p> </p><p>Once specter Luigi had gotten back inside his own body, Mr. L had taken out his cap from his pocket and places it back on his head; triggering the shift of mindset from his dark half of Mr. L to the original light half - Luigi - as his eyes turn from grey to light blue. Feeling that headache slightly and shaking his head, the Italian plumber looked around as it felt like everything is back to normal for now. "I-it feels good t-to be back in my o-own body again..." He takes a deep breath and sighs heavily.</p><p> </p><p>Though deep down in his mind, Luigi rushes over to Boocille and hugs her tightly and wanting to be sure he's there for her. .oO( <em> Boocille! </em> ) He feels so happy that she has recovered, thanks to the Witchdoctor's help as tears of joy stream down his cheeks and holds her close.</p><p> </p><p>The small specter was once again fully opaque and visible once more, adjusting her flowers and beamed in delight upon Luigi rushing towards her. Hugging onto the spiritual essence of him, Boocille sighed in divine relief. .oO( <em> Luigi, thank goodness you're okay..!! I was so out of it, I couldn't tell what was happening! I was so scared that I'd be awake and the ship would be back totally under King Boo's control! </em> ) Mr. L, now back within the deepest recesses of Luigi's mind couldn't help but smile. Seeing the two happy made him feel unusually warm, even urging him to want to join the hug-fest.</p><p> </p><p>Luigi cried happily to see Boocille back to her opaque self with her strength back, .oO( <em> I-I'm-a okay, my dark h-half helped g-get th-through a r-rough p-patch... A-and I-a was worried about you... </em> ) The light half pets Boocille's head as he looks back to where Mr. L had went off to. He decided to summon his dark half back to join in on the hug-fest, since he knows that any kind of love and support should always be appreciated.</p><p> </p><p>Being in a hug was... unusual for Mr. L. He was never one for physical contact for affection or that sort... but it was sure a nice change of pace. He couldn't remember, in all of his existence, if he felt something akin to this before. This was entirely new to him, for sure. .oO( <em> You did us something tremendous, Boocille... you saved us, you saved Hatty. You saved the ship from a terrible fate with your sacrifice... but please, we can't afford to lose you. Be careful with how much you give. </em> ) .oO( <em> I-I promise... I promise... </em> )</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> All of us deeply c-care about you... </em> ) The green plumber lets go of Boocille and rubs the side of her head gently, since he knows that she loves that kind of affection. .oO( <em> If we d-did lose you, I-a know that I-I'll be devastated... </em> ) He lets her know how he'll feel if she had faded away completely and was never to return, since he cares so much for the people, animals and specters that help them along the way as long as they don't get hurt, die or fade away.</p><p> </p><p>.oO( <em> You show that not every last Boo out there is just some hungry, careless specter. You're not only a treasured teammate, but... an incredible friend to Luigi and myself. I know it may not mean much coming from me right now, but that's the truth as far as I see it. </em> ) He smiled tiredly, scratching the side of her tummy, causing her tail to flicker about.</p><p> </p><p>During the time of love and care for Boocille in Luigi's mind, the green stache himself felt happy as he readjusts his cap to keep it firmly on his head. "Th-thank you again, Witchdoctor, for helping Boocille as w-well as the captain." He waves to the Witchdoctor before the crew mate joins the rest of the other crew mates and toads as Luigi takes his now cooled down poltergust G-00 and puts it back on his shoulders. He comes out of the lab and goes over to Hatty, who was still out of it but his appearance was much better than before. "H-Hatty... W-wake up..." The echoes of the kind and loving plumber's voice helped stir the captain awake from his sleep.</p><p> </p><p>The dizzy captain came to, wiping his mouth and eyes before shuddering to life. "<em>Aah..~ wow... </em> a nice nap does wonders. ... what happened? Why does everyone look like they've been scared stiff?" "<em>Because you had us scared stiff, captain! You were all blackened, like you were burned, and you were cooking with a fever.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi's saddened expression shows all of what everyone had gone through to save Hatty's life as the Witchdoctor comes over to see how the captain is doing. "W-we had-to find th-the Witchdoctor to help you feel better..." The green plumber looks away and scratches the back of his neck, feeling happy that Hatty is okay, but knowing now of what's happening to him every time he gets angry.</p><p> </p><p>Looking to the doctor, Hatty looked to his fingers and saw that the singed blackness was no longer there. "... thank you, Witchdoctor... you saved my life." "<em>Oh, it wasn't just me. It was Mr. Luigi and his spiritual accomplices who aided in returning me to the flesh.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Luigi chuckles a little bit as his big nose goes red as he blushes a bit from the Witchdoctor's complement. "I-it's nothing, really. Th-though I'm-a glad that you're okay now." The Italian plumber pats the captain's shoulder gently with a sigh of relief. "... J-just as long as you keep calm while w-we fight the g-ghosts and b-b-boos..." Gee, just <em> mentioning </em> the ghosts and boos makes Luigi shiver in fear, scared of getting near them.</p><p> </p><p>"... what even made me... go so berserk?" "<em>I haven't a clue... this is ancient, far older than anything I've ever seen, but it is inborn. You were born with this curse that afflicts the men of your family, and you're the unfortunate recipient of such a malady.</em>" "... so... i-is it gone?" "<em>Unfortunately, no. It isn't something that I have the knowledge or know-how to remove from you. I fear if I tried, I could destroy your soul...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>After shaking his head a bit, Luigi looks back to Hatty and the WItchdoctor, "F-from what I heard, a-all we could d-do now is manage it... Whatever i-it is." His small smile helps reassure Hatty, as he gently squeezes his shoulder to let the captain know that he genuinely cares about him and in hopes to let him know that he's not alone in this battle, since the plumber himself has his own problems to deal with internally.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>How do you feel now, captain?</em>" "... not angry, which is good. Before, it was... it was like an unGodly shroud of Satan's own wrath gripped my throat and mind, turning me into nothing more than a frothing beast, ready to bite the hearts of anyone standing in my way. I was so enraged that... all I can really remember is Boocille having to put me in a bubble, for lack of a better term." "<em>Yet she did the right thing with protecting you. Fighting in that state could rip your soul in two. If that happened, I'm not sure what the consequence would be...</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"It's all you remember? Must have been blackout rage after that point..." Kazu mentions as some of the crew mates and Luigi were uneasy of what Hatty said about what he would have done to anyone in his way. "At least you're okay now! It's all it really matters." Maggie enlightens everyone with her kind words as they try to hug the captain at the same time; though it wasn't possible to do so as only a few tried to.</p><p> </p><p>Being caught in a practical dog pile as the arms of his friends all locked about him, he chuckled out and felt his soul quiver in warm delight. This would help ground him more, the comfort and support of his friends. The S.S. Friendship was <em> truly </em> starting to get its stronghold back!</p><p>---------------------</p><p>During this time, Maya had been keeping tabs of what's been happening with Luigi and Hatty as the demon lord senses the darkness within the captain had gone down significantly as Reginald comes in and provides information on the two. "<em> Well well, what kind of information do you have now? </em>" Maya asks Reginald as he tries to keep King Boo stay calm and collected; even if he does hear bad news... But most of the time, it doesn't work well.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>While unfortunately, they have succeeded in besting some of our troops, there's been an </em> <b> <em>interesting</em> </b> <em> development with the prodigal son.</em>" Reginald spoke with a smirk. "<em>His skin has turned an ashy black with some sort of red ring about his altered flesh. As though his body is transforming into something grim. His anger... it was almost impressive with how stupidly blind he was, charging wildly head long into danger. And yet, there's something oddly familiar about his physical metamorphosis. </em> " His eyes turned to Maya, noting his dark skin. " <em> Black, cracking, tinged with red with a delight for anger and battle... sounds like you're quite infectious, Lord Maya. Unless this is something... far greater than a simpler malady~.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh, his appearance is surprising, for sure.</em>" The demon lord smirks, showing his sharp teeth, "<em>It's just something that you don't need to worry about, since this darkness and power from within that he always had, and isn't related to me being </em> <b> <em>infectious</em> </b> <em> to him...</em>" Maya huffs and crosses his arms as he floats over to Reginald and gets close to his face." <em> Though it doesn't matter, since you're his older brother...</em>" The demon king gives a huge grin as he lightly scrapes one of his claws under Reginald's chin. "<em>Who knows? You might or might not have the same power and darkness.</em>" He can sense the same darkness within Reginald, but he doesn't want to tell the truth to him for now and doesn't activate the darkness within the ghostly navigator just yet." <em> Though I highly doubt it. Heh heh~</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>... but if that little pretentious captain has this sort of moronic rage in him with no control, maybe there can be a way to use this. To make use of this bull-like, red-tinged vision against him and the crew. ... maybe to weaponize him against his own little cavalcade of cowering shiphands.</em>" "<em>That's a terrible idea, who's to say that that annoying green test of my patience wouldn't just flip around and manage to turn him back on us? We should use this to </em> <b> <em>destroy</em> </b> <em> not to poke or prod or bloody tease! We've been playing these games long enough, </em> <b> <em>AND WE'RE LOSING TOO MANY OF OUR MEN!!</em></b>"</p><p> </p><p>King Boo's small mitts slammed down in a shrieking hissy fit that caused Reginald to flinch back and clutch his ear. The high pitched squealing caused Reggie's ear to beep with a noxious ringing. "<em>King Boo, calm yourself! While they've found ways to win battles, they'll fall before they could make their way through the trenches, and the war will be </em> <b> <em>ours</em></b><em>. That little bastard doesn't even know the sort of </em> <b> <em>hurt</em> </b> <em> I could put him in. </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> know what hurts him the most, and I intend on using that like a child pulling the legs off of a writhing insect.</em>" He pulled his sleeves back and cracked his knuckles. "<em>While many have fallen before, they've only scratched the surface. We may lose some men, but they're simple foot soldiers, nothing that can't be replenished. If there's one thing that can make or break the fight, it's morale... and if that's shattered, then the puzzle pieces all fall into place and it would spell victory for the rightful crowns. Those idiots are too dim to even think of where to find the next paintings, they've been spinning in circles like dogs. Speaking of dogs..~ we do still have that wonderful mutt out there who can easily shake those lot into oblivion if they're dim enough to dally.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes... Their morale has been diminishing, ever since they found out about them having their dark side show their faces.</em>" Maya smirks, "<em>I've already set a trap for the captain's darkness to exploit and gain control, but he hasn't found that catalyst yet, from what I can sense... But, I have an idea.</em>" Maya flies back over to King Boo and tries to get him to calm down again, as he breaks a small piece of the jewel from his crown and flies back over to Reginald. "<em>Take this piece, this will help you into capturing the green bastard when they least expect it.</em>" He places the small piece into the ghostly navigator's hands as he chuckles. "<em>Make sure you keep it safe from anyone else.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the gem, Reginald smirks and carefully affixes it to the cuff of his shirt sleeve prior to his thick coat covering it. "<em>Safe and sound, but always within easy reach. The little Guido won't ever know what hit him, being trapped inside of a special portrait, a helpless whelp to the maw of a thousand teeth.</em>" "<em>You could have </em> <b> <em>asked</em> </b> <em> before taking a piece of the gem.</em>" King Boo felt at the dent in the gem on his crown, causing Reginald to roll his eyes. "<em>It will be worth ten ships in gold once that idiot in green is trapped in the portrait, thanks to this.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yet, I was the one who created that gem for you, King Boo...</em>" Maya snorts as he snaps his fingers, having the missing part of the crown gem to reappear to make it whole again while Reginald still has the piece hidden away. "<em>Now go, I expect you to capture that Luigi and bring him back here with you.</em>" The demon lord orders Reginald to find and capture Luigi in a special portrait when the perfect moment strikes, as now he can follow through on the threat that he made to the green plumber earlier.</p><p> </p><p>With an obedient salute, the specter swiftly faded through the floorboards and was gone swiftly. Hatty didn't know it yet, but his lineage was steeped in a history that only <em> Maya </em> knew. T'was millennia ago, when youth coursed through a young demon king's veins when a lusty barkeep caught his eye. It was an affair fondly remembered, while the names are obscure, the singing voice was <em> pure ecstasy</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Impatient, King Boo asked. "<em>You seem to know far more about those two bastards than what you lead on. I can see that smirk on your face that you know something no one else does.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh, it's none of your concern.</em>" Maya floats over to King Boo as he crosses his arms. "<em>So what if I know a whole lot about those two? Since I can control darkness, I can sense hidden darkness from within good people; especially the green arch nemesis of yours... It's simple to find ways to exploit that darkness and turn against their friends and family.</em>" He wanted to cover his tracks so that the real reason why he knew about Hatty and Reginald having darkness within them wouldn't be found out, even from King Boo. "<em>Besides, with the captain and his brother, their hidden darkness is more easily noticed compared to Luigi's.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>While that may be true, that darkness hasn't seemed to really stunt their progress just yet. They're growing in numbers like nails- steady and unyielding. It's frustrating to know that these two bastards are dwindling our numbers! </em> <b> <em>I</em> </b> <em> can't even get at them since it would spell disaster if they got their hands on me... them and that </em> <b> <em>bastard</em> </b> <em> child of mine. How </em> <b> <em>dare</em> </b> <em> she disobey her Father. I made her with the intent of having a worthy heir to my throne, but instead, I get some lowly little disrespectful brat who favors the "comfort and lives" of people... phooey! Poppycock is what it is!!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Heh, I can tell that your patience is running thin on this whole matter. Yes, we are losing some of our troops, but it doesn't mean our war has ended just yet.</em>" Luckily that Maya is much more intelligent and wise compared to King Boo, as well as having more patience. " <em> I've been around for over ten-thousand years; quiet and dormant, and had waited for that long in order to find the opportunity to </em> <b> <em>strike</em> </b> <em> ...</em>" The demon lord huffs as he pokes where King Boo's nose would be. "<em>So you need to start treating your minions better and be more patient at this!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<b><em>Better?!</em></b> <em>When they want to act like a bunch of </em><b><em>children</em></b><em>?! I'm sorry- are we raising an army, or are we raising a field's worth of bastards we never wanted? Have you </em><b><em>tried</em></b><em> to speak with those idiotic specters for just five minutes?! Their responses are like a toddler trying to lie their way out of trouble with a multicolored wall with a marker still clutched in their little sticky, filthy grasp! They have </em><b><em>no</em></b><em> tact, </em><b><em>no</em></b><em> technique, just rushing in like mad and trying to glass cannon each and every attack without </em><b><em>any</em></b><em> thought! It's because of this that we're </em><b><em>struggling</em></b><em> with something that should be </em><b><em>easy</em></b><em>! It's gone from some failing rag tag team to a gradual burn of the wick and I </em><b><em>will not have it</em></b><em>!!</em>" King Boo's face turned red and darker, snarling angrily as he argued the patience and fairer treatment. "<em>Perhaps if they actually fought like the soldiers I intended to raise, maybe they </em><b><em>wouldn't</em></b><em> have to shudder! Have you thought about </em><b><em>that</em></b><em>?! I've spent ten years trapped in a tiny box, left in a dingy closet... I had no ability to roam, no freedom, </em><b><em>nothing</em></b><em>! I've only wanted that damned kingdom destroyed after being locked away, stripped of all liberties, after failure after failure because of these abominable specters!</em>" His frustration rose in his voice, only becoming more irate.</p><p> </p><p>Maya just huffs once more, as he floats back away from King Boo, "<em>Have it your way, at least I can do... </em> <b> <em>THIS!!</em></b>" The demon lord snaps his fingers, having King Boo's crown disappear from his head and having demonic chains wrap around the rounded specter to hold him down as well as the chains help shrink the large boo into a smaller one. "<em>Now... I'm the one who has freed you from Elvin Gadd's prison this last time... If you're going to treat me and my minions as well as your own minions as if they aren't doing a good job, then you have another thing coming! I can easily lock you up and will </em> <b> <em>never</em> </b> <em> be free again!</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Finding himself not only ripped of his crown and trapped in chains, the ghost tried to wriggle free, but only found himself under lock and key without any chance of freedom. Seeing himself smaller before the demon king's snarled face, King Boo huffed and tried to struggle free once more. "<em>Y-you can't be serious..!!</em>" As this was happening, a few Boos heard the struggling and fighting, poking their heads in and seeing their king in chains... However, none acted to rescue the king. It was a testament to the <em> shaky </em> relationship and loyalty of the Boos to their tyrannical king.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Oh yes, I am serious...</em>" Maya growls as he notices the few boos come in and sees what's happening. "<em>Your minions are afraid of helping you get out this time... Since they know how cruel you can be to them.</em>" He floats over to the boos and gestures them to come with as he pats the boos on their heads gently. "<em>Come, let's leave this baby alone for a little while, so he can cool his raging head.</em>" With that, Maya flies through the walls to leave King Boo in this sorry state without his crown, as the few boos follow him to leave the rounded specter alone.</p><p><br/>"<em>WHAT?! NO, NO!! Get back here and undo these damn chains!! Minions, get back here and release me this minute!! Maya, </em> <b> <em>MAYA!!</em></b>" The scorned king cried out as the Boos seemed to flock around Maya, seeming much more comfortable with this demon king's kinder reign over them, ensuring that they weren't mistreated or spoken down to. They showed more undying loyalty to Maya than their own creator, which definitely left a bad taste in the king's mouth. The irony that a <em> demon </em> knew how to treat his legion better than a mere ghost king.</p>
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